Latest news with #DanielAngerhausen
BBC News
10-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Aliens: Scientists want new mission to seek out non-human life in space
A team of scientists want to start a new mission to try to find life beyond Earth and the solar from ETH Zurich, a Swiss university, want to send four space telescopes to explore exo-planets even further away than Neptune, the planet furthest from the say their LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets) mission, would look at lots of Earth-like planets for signs of life like oxygen and water vapour. No space agency has taken their plan yet up, but the researchers say that even if it detected no signs of life at all, it would be worth doing. They argue the data they gather could help to make progress on the big question of whether or not there is life out there. What is an exo-planet? Exoplanets are planets that are outside our solar system and orbit a different star to our Sun. Our solar system is made up of the Sun, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, and thousands of asteroids and sits in our galaxy which is called the Milky Way. Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered in our galaxy, but Nasa believes billions exist. In a study published in the journal Astronomical Journal, physicist Dr Daniel Angerhausen from ETH Zurich said more should be done to explore them for clues about alien life."A single positive detection would change everything," he said, but even if a mission didn't find signs of life, he argued it would help data experts work out "how rare - or common" planets with signs of life actually are, to help with future missions.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The truth is out there: Scientists want a new mission to hunt for life beyond Earth
Scientists want a new mission to hunt for life beyond Earth and the solar system. The Swiss university ETH Zurich's international Large Interferometer for Exoplanets mission would send telescopes to investigate the diversity of other worlds. The so-called LIFE mission would study the atmospheres of dozens of exoplanets with a similar temperature, radius and mass to Earth for signs of water and oxygen. "A single positive detection would change everything," physicist Dr. Daniel Angerhausen explained in a statement, "but even if we don't find life, we'll be able to quantify how rare — or common — planets with detectable biosignatures really might be." The mission concept is detailed in a new study published in The Astronomical Journal. The study reviews what astronomers could learn if there's 'no life detected' in future exoplanet surveys, relying on a 'Bayesian' statistical analysis to establish the minimum number of exoplanets that should be observed to get meaningful answers about the frequency of possibly inhabited worlds. Bayesian statistics has to do with determining the probability of an outcome based on other known probabilities, according to There are currently more than 5,800 confirmed exoplanets that exist beyond our solar system. Most of them orbit other stars and the majority of those that have been discovered are in our Milky Way galaxy. But, NASA believes that billions exist. The research found that if scientists examined between 40 and 80 exoplanets finding no life, they could conclude that fewer than 10 to 20 percent of similar planets host life. They said those conclusions would enable researchers to place an upper limit an estimated prevalence of life in the universe. 'This kind of result would be a turning point,' said Angerhausen, the study's lead author. 'Even if we don't find life, we'll finally be able to quantify how rare — or common — planets with detectable biosignatures really might be.' Still, they acknowledge that every observation comes with a certain level of uncertainty. For example, the mission could result in false negatives thanks to missed signs of life. The study authors say specific and measurable questions are necessary to address uncertainty, including 'which fraction of rocky planets in a solar system's habitable zone show clear signs of water vapor, oxygen, and methane.' "It's not just about how many planets we observe — it's about asking the right questions and how confident we can be in seeing or not seeing what we're searching for," Angerhausen said. "If we're not careful and are overconfident in our abilities to identify life, even a large survey could lead to misleading results."
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Science
- The Independent
The truth is out there: Scientists want a new mission to hunt for life beyond Earth
Scientists want a new mission to hunt for life beyond Earth and the solar system. The Swiss university ETH Zurich's international Large Interferometer for Exoplanets mission would send telescopes to investigate the diversity of other worlds. The so-called LIFE mission would study the atmospheres of dozens of exoplanets with a similar temperature, radius and mass to Earth for signs of water and oxygen. "A single positive detection would change everything," physicist Dr. Daniel Angerhausen explained in a statement, "but even if we don't find life, we'll be able to quantify how rare — or common — planets with detectable biosignatures really might be." The mission concept is detailed in a new study published in The Astronomical Journal. The study reviews what astronomers could learn if there's 'no life detected' in future exoplanet surveys, relying on a 'Bayesian' statistical analysis to establish the minimum number of exoplanets that should be observed to get meaningful answers about the frequency of possibly inhabited worlds. Bayesian statistics has to do with determining the probability of an outcome based on other known probabilities, according to There are currently more than 5,800 confirmed exoplanets that exist beyond our solar system. Most of them orbit other stars and the majority of those that have been discovered are in our Milky Way galaxy. But, NASA believes that billions exist. The research found that if scientists examined between 40 and 80 exoplanets finding no life, they could conclude that fewer than 10 to 20 percent of similar planets host life. They said those conclusions would enable researchers to place an upper limit an estimated prevalence of life in the universe. 'This kind of result would be a turning point,' said Angerhausen, the study's lead author. 'Even if we don't find life, we'll finally be able to quantify how rare — or common — planets with detectable biosignatures really might be.' Still, they acknowledge that every observation comes with a certain level of uncertainty. For example, the mission could result in false negatives thanks to missed signs of life. The study authors say specific and measurable questions are necessary to address uncertainty, including 'which fraction of rocky planets in a solar system's habitable zone show clear signs of water vapor, oxygen, and methane.' "It's not just about how many planets we observe — it's about asking the right questions and how confident we can be in seeing or not seeing what we're searching for," Angerhausen said. "If we're not careful and are overconfident in our abilities to identify life, even a large survey could lead to misleading results."
