For humankind, evidence for life beyond Earth is unlikely to be as dramatic as an alien spaceship landing, say, next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is more likely to come from telescope observations of a faraway planet bearing atmospheric chemicals suggestive of biological activity.
Researchers on Monday said methane may be the first detectable sign of extraterrestrial life if discovered in the atmosphere of a rocky planet orbiting in the "habitable zone" - the area not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the planetary surface - around a sun-like star.
"On Earth, the vast majority of methane is produced by life," said study lead author Maggie Thompson, a University of California, Santa Cruz graduate student in astronomy and astrophysics. Thirdly, they said, it would be difficult for nonbiological processes such as volcanism or chemical reactions in mid-ocean ridges and hydrothermal vents to maintain replenishment without leaving a "fingerprint" indicating the methane was not biologically generated.
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