Extraterrestrial life does not require a planet, according to scientists. Without a celestial body, they think alien civilizations can create a natural environment for life, according to Space.com.
At first glance, the planets seem like ideal candidates for the search for life. After all, the only form of life known to us exists on Earth, that is, on our planet. It has gravity that holds everything together, an atmosphere that maintains the right temperature. On top of that, sunlight is a limitless source of energy, and our planet contains a multitude of elements essential to the development and sustenance of life.
This information is the foundation of the current hunt for extraterrestrial civilizations. The question of whether it is possible to create an environment that would allow life to flourish without a planet is now being investigated by scientists.
This concept is also not as absurd as it might appear. There are already examples of extraterrestrial life that we are aware of. These are astronauts on the International Space Station. They need a large amount of resources that are constantly supplied from the Earth, but humans are very complex creatures.
Simplicity may allow simpler organisms to survive without continual external assistance. Tadpoles, for instance, are able to survive in a vacuum. Any community of organisms in space must solve several tasks. First, it must maintain internal pressure against the vacuum of space. Therefore, colonies in space will need to be formed to replenish them.
Finally, in order to receive the most sunlight possible, the colony needs to be situated in the star’s population zone. Colonies must begin with a permanent source, like an asteroid, and then transition to a closed-loop recycling system to access subsequent resources, like carbon and oxygen.
Therefore, scientists say it is possible to create a colony of organisms or to have a single organism in space. Such a structure must be enclosed in a thin, transparent, hard shell; its diameter can reach 100 meters. This shell will stabilize its internal water to the right pressure and temperature and allow it to maintain a greenhouse effect.
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