From conspiracy theories to UFO sightings and sci-fi movies, the existence of life beyond Earth has been debated for years. To continue the debate, the Jasper Dark Sky Festival invited a panel of scientific professionals to weigh in on this issue. Here鈥檚 what they had to say:
Alan Nursall President and CEO of Telus World of Science-Edmonton
Alan Nursall has spent many years wondering where we鈥攖he inhabitants of Earth鈥攑icked up our infatuation with aliens.
According to the scientist, if we go back thousands of years there are references to extraterrestrials in religious and theological texts. However, more recently, near the end of the 20th century, science fiction became a popular genre and ever so subtly, the idea of Daleks, body snatchers and brain-sucking monsters became normalized.
鈥淣ot only did we start to believe that there was other life out there, but it wants to get us,鈥� Nursall said.
However, according to Nursall, what鈥檚 changed in recent years is that we now have technology capable of detecting life beyond Earth, but so far we鈥檝e turned up empty-handed.
In keeping with popular science fiction tales, Nursall argued perhaps aliens have been coming to Earth undetected for centuries. Refuting his own point, Nursall said the possibility of that is highly unlikely.
鈥淚 find it very challenging to believe they are so incredibly quiet and distant when our track record of exploration is exactly the opposite,鈥� said Nursall. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think aliens are among us, but I do think we have a deep need for company and I hope that we do find life in the near future.鈥�
Bobak Ferdowsi Flight system engineer at NASA鈥檚 jet propulsion laboratory
Since starting work with NASA, Bobak Ferdowsi has discovered one important fact: The universe is strange.
鈥淲e live on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam,鈥� said Ferdowsi, quoting popular scientist Carl Sagan. 鈥淲hy is our little speck so different from the other specks that we have travelled to and are we alone? This is one of the questions that I really hope to contribute to.鈥�
In 2012, Ferdowsi was a part of a team of scientists that sent the Curiosity rover to Mars, where it was quickly discovered that billions of years ago the red planet had similar environmental conditions as Earth.
鈥淎t one point there was a lot of water and that water was probably drinkable and if we had of introduced living species that exist on Earth they probably would have survived on Mars,鈥� Ferdowsi said.
Mars isn鈥檛 the only planet appearing to be habitable. In recent years, NASA鈥檚 Kepler Telescope, designed to survey Earth鈥檚 region of the Milky Way, has discovered more than 2,000 exoplanets and moons. It is believed about 20 per cent of these planets and moons are habitable, meaning they aren鈥檛 too hot or cold for living organisms.
鈥淲hen you look at the night sky and see all these galaxies it鈥檚 hard to imagine that there鈥檚 not life out there somewhere,鈥� Ferdowsi said.
Nadia Drake Award-winning science journalist
Despite her own impressive resume, Nadia Drake talked to the audience about a man that is very close to her: her father.
Frank Drake is an American astronomer best known as one of the pioneers in the search of extraterrestrial intelligence.
鈥淔or me there was never any taboo to wondering if we were alone in the universe and dreaming of what else might be out there,鈥� she said.
In 1960, Frank started Project Ozma, an experiment to search for signs of life in distant planetary systems with interstellar radio waves.
鈥淗e thought why should this planet be unique鈥攚hy should this be the only place in the universe with living, breathing life form,鈥� Nadia said.
Using a radio telescope with a diameter of 85 feet, Frank and his small team listened for months, but heard nothing.
Despite producing zero results, the project gained international attention and served as the forefront for research on this topic, which is still being conducted today.
In 2015, the Breakthrough Listen Project was announced. The aim of the $100-million initiative is to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. It has been described as the most comprehensive search for alien communication to-date.
鈥淚 think the question of whether we are alone in this vastness is one of the most important questions we can be asking,鈥� Nadia said. 鈥淲hether we are the only conscious life forms out there or that the cosmic oceans are as richly populated as the Earth鈥檚 is going to be profound.
鈥淓ither way we are going to learn something utterly profound about ourselves.鈥�
Ross Lockwood Aspiring astronaut
Ross Lockwood doesn鈥檛 know if there is life beyond Earth, but he is sure that if there is he wants to be the one to find it. 聽
Ever since he was a kid, the British Columbia native dreamed of becoming an astronaut and now he鈥檚 well on his way and encouraging others to follow their own space dreams.
鈥淚 think anyone who has dreamed of being an astronaut actually has a very good chance in our lifetime of visiting space鈥攎aybe not right now, but maybe sometime in the not-so-distant future.鈥� 聽
After completing his undergraduate degree in 2008, it was time to put his plan to action, so he completed a PhD and enrolled in several programs catered towards want-to-be astronauts.
鈥淚n 2008 the Canadian Space Agency started its astronaut recruitment plan,鈥� Lockwood said. 鈥淚 decided that it didn鈥檛 look that hard so I started ticking off as many boxes as I could to be prepared for the next astronaut recruitment.鈥�
To date, one of Lockwood鈥檚 biggest career highlights has been his participation in HI-SEAS II, a program that sends potential astronauts to a Mars simulation for several months.
鈥淲e had to wear space suits and eat dehydrated foods and look for signs of life on Mars,鈥� Lockwood said. 鈥淚t was a very formative experience for me.鈥�
In June, The Canadian Space Agency opened up another recruitment application. Lockwood recently found out he has made the first round of cuts, leaving him with two out 1,700 chances to become Canada鈥檚 next astronaut.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
