SLIDESHOW: The Quest for Alien Life Begins in Our Own Back Yard

Just about every planet in the solar system that might harbor life has an analog on Earth--and that's the first place scientists thought to look

By Karen Schrock on November 29, 2006

SLIDESHOW: The Quest for Alien Life Begins in Our Own Back Yard

Tales of alien abduction and SETI's extrasolar search for intelligent life may fuel the imagination, but astrobiologists know that the first proof that we are not alone is likely to be found in our own solar system. And rather than being a bug-eyed humanoid, E.T. will probably resemble the extremophile microbes living here on Earth.

Scientists are looking to these hearty single-celled organisms for insight into how life can exist in inhospitable environments. With every new microbe discovered thriving in a place formerly thought to be uninhabited, more extraterrestrial environments are realized to have the potential to support life. Visit our image gallery comparing possible extraterrestrial ecosystems to their terrestrial counterparts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Karen Schrock

Kate Schrock has been an editor of Scientific American MIND since 2007, where she edits feature articles and runs Head Lines, the magazine's news department. After studying astronomy and physics at the University of Southern California, she worked in the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying the brain structure of people with schizophrenia. She then enrolled in the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting program at New York University, where she earned a master's degree in journalism.