Scientists have developed a new method using artificial intelligence to identify life on other planets.
A group of researchers has said it can now be determined with 90 per cent accuracy if a sample is biological or non-biological.
The simple and reliable test could revolutionise the search for life on other planets, the researchers say.
“This is a significant advance in our abilities to recognise biochemical signs of life on other worlds,” said lead researcher Robert Hazen, of the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory and George Mason University in the US.
“It opens the way to using smart sensors on unmanned spaceships to search for signs of life.
“This routine analytical method has the potential to revolutionise the search for extraterrestrial life and deepen our understanding of both the origin and chemistry of the earliest life on Earth.
“It opens the way to using smart sensors on robotic spacecraft, landers and rovers to search for signs of life before the samples return to Earth.”
The scientists say that most immediately, the new test could reveal the history of mysterious, ancient rocks on Earth, and possibly that of samples already collected by the Mars Curiosity rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.
“We’ll need to tweak our method to match SAM’s protocols, but it’s possible that we already have data in hand to determine if there are molecules on Mars from an organic Martian biosphere,” said lead author Jim Cleaves of the Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.
“The search for extraterrestrial life remains one of the most tantalising endeavours in modern science.”
James Webb space images – in pictures
The method does not rely simply on identifying a specific molecule or group of compounds in a sample.
Instead, the researchers demonstrated that AI can differentiate between living and non-living samples by detecting subtle differences within a sample’s molecular patterns.
The scientists used Nasa flight-tested methods to analyse 134 varied carbon-rich samples from living cells, age-degraded samples, geologically processed fossil fuels, carbon-rich meteorites, and laboratory-made organic compounds and mixtures.
Fifty-nine of these were of biological origin (biotic), such as a grain of rice, a human hair and crude oil, and 75 were of non-biological origin (abiotic), such as lab-made compounds like amino acids or samples from carbon-rich meteorites.
Using a suite of machine-learning methods, the researchers created a model that can predict the abiotic or biotic nature of the sample with around 90 per cent accuracy.
Surprisingly, in spite of significant decay and alteration, the new method detected signs of biology preserved in some instances over hundreds of millions of years.
“These results mean that we may be able to find a lifeform from another planet, another biosphere, even if it is very different from the life we know on Earth,” Dr Hazen said.
“And, if we do find signs of life elsewhere, we can tell if life on Earth and other planets derived from a common or different origin.
“Put another way, the method should be able to detect alien biochemistries, as well as Earth life.
“That is a big deal because it’s relatively easy to spot the molecular biomarkers of Earth life, but we cannot assume that alien life will use DNA, amino acids, etc.
“Our method looks for patterns in molecular distributions that arise from life’s demand for ‘functional’ molecules.”
The findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
500 People from Gaza enter France
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How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The specs
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Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Napoleon
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THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
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Emergency
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Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
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