Second, Alien Life
Form May Exist on Earth, States Report in Astrobiology Journal
e-mail Address
New Rochelle, NY, April 18, 2005 –If life readily emerged on Earth
shortly after conditions became favorable, isn’t it likely that
other genesis events also occurred, creating additional “alien” life
forms that co-exist with known life, asks a groundbreaking
hypothesis paper in the April 2005 (Volume 5, Number 2) issue of
Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert,
Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The paper is available free online at
www.liebertpub.com/ast.
In “Finding a Second Sample of Life on Earth,” authors P.C.W. Davies
and Charles Lineweaver propose multiple scenarios for how a second
genesis of life could have occurred. Given that existing life formed
under early Earth-like conditions, then logically it would seem
possible for alternative life to have formed on Earth in a similar
manner and to have survived to the present day.
How then to detect a “second sample,” and is there evidence for
“alien life” on Earth? Davies, from the Australian Centre for
Astrobiology at Macquarie University (New South Wales), and
Lineweaver, from the Planetary Science Institute at the Australian
National University, conclude that life is likely to have emerged on
Earth more than once and, although there are ways to obtain evidence
of alien life, these microorganisms could exist on Earth today and
remain undetected.
“Davies and Lineweaver consider a way to cut the anthropic knot ,”
says journal Hypothesis Papers editor, Norman H. Sleep, Ph.D.,
Professor in the Departments of Geophysics and Geological and
Environmental Sciences, Stanford University. “If the origin of life
is easy, a second example of life may lurk beneath our noses. We
have the technology to commence our search.”
Second, Alien Life Form May Exist on Earth, States Report in
Astrobiology Journal
Second, Alien Life Form May Exist on Earth, States Report in
Astrobiology Journal 
