Are we alone in the galaxy?
At some point, we’ve all looked far and wide and wondered if we’re the only intelligent life out there. After all these centuries, it remains one of the most profound questions. We continue to lack any evidence on whether we’re alone. Moreover, if there are no other forms of life, then why is that? A study in the journal ‘Scientific Reports’ led by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) has come up with an answer from an unlikely source: tectonic plates behind the creation of mountains, volcanoes and oceans.
Why haven’t we met aliens yet?
“The long-lasting coexistence of oceans with dry land seems critical for obtaining intelligent life and technological civilizations as the result of biological evolution. But having continents and oceans is not sufficient on their own, because life’s evolution is very slow. In order to accelerate it, plate tectonics is needed,” Taras Gerya, professor of Earth sciences at ETH Zurich told ‘Space.com’. “What we have tried to explain is, why have we not been contacted?” she added. “Life has been around on Earth for about 4 billion years, but complex organisms like animals didn’t appear until about 600 million years ago, which is not long after the modern episode of plate tectonics began,” explained Robert Stern, professor of sustainable Earth systems sciences at UTD, in a news release. “Plate tectonics really jump-starts the evolution machine, and we think we understand why.” The research suggests that the Drake Equation, devised in the 1960s, needs to be changed. This famous formula estimates how many intelligent civilisations in our galaxy are capable of communication. However, it overlooks the key role that large oceans, continents and plate tectonics played in creating intelligent life.
Looking deep inside Earth
Profs. Stern and Gerya argue that plate tectonics is important for the evolution of complex life forms. Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics. This makes the conditions required for the emergence of intelligent life highly unlikely. “Biogeochemistry posits that the solid Earth, particularly plate tectonics, speeds up the evolution of species,” Prof. Stern further elaborated. “Studies like ours are useful because they stimulate thinking broadly about larger mysteries and provide an example of how we can apply our knowledge of Earth systems to interesting questions about our universe.” We may or may not be alone, but we still have a lot to learn about faraway worlds. The universe is, after all, pretty massive – and full of surprises. Next time you gaze up at the night sky in wonder, don’t forget the ground you’re living on, too. “We should take all possible care to preserve our own — very rare! — civilization,” commented Prof. Gerya in ‘Space.com’.
Keywords
life, tectonics, Earth, tectonic plate, plate tectonics, evolution, ocean, galaxy, geology, universe, continent