Ah, life in other planets... The dream of any scientist.
We've tried to calculate the odds for such thing to happen; the Fermi Paradox and Drake equation are clear examples of such thing. Yet, my perspective from today is a bit "off" the science field, and more into science fiction.
Movies, series, books... They all have a large influence on how and what do people think about in today's era. The level of influence is such, that it can be compared to the one the Church had during the middle ages. By throwing in a small idea, it'd actually force similar ideas into the pleb, keeping them thinking "inside the box".
We do not have to dig too deep to find out certain concurrences of how "aliens" would look like to 95% of people: Anthropomorphic, eyes, arms, legs. Some with a few "modification", yet still: Humanoid.
Nothing further from the most possible truth.
We do have several examples of life available for observation here, right on earth. From the smallest virus to the hugest ecosystem. They all behave pretty much in a similar way: Born, grown, reproduced and dead. All of them are carbon based organisms that rely on DNA to perform mutations over time and allow them to survive further generations ahead.
Yet, even when we all share common traits, some, rely on totally unique feats to survive, showing us possible branches of evolution we bypassed for a reason or another.
Sharks posses the ampullae of Lorenzini and organ that allow them to feel/sense electrical stimuli. We, on the other hand perceive light with our eyes, evolving from the basic mono-cellular organisms that relied on light to survive. What would've happened if we had THOSE instead of eyes?
Of course, as our ancestors left the water seeking for food and a not-so-hostile environment these organs should've evolved into something way more sensitive to be able to perceive electricity in an atmosphere that is not made of salty water, a highly conductive liquid. We would be able to "feel" our wi-fi networks. We would see the stars as our radiotelescopes do, and perhaps have no blind spots.
For some strange reason we do not, and we've to deal with it, relying in our lacrimals to keep our eyes wet, as if we still lived underwater so that they may work fine.
Corals are also very particular, people thought they were plants for a long time, and very probably would've considered them some sort of underwater Stalagmite... A rock that grew like any other mineral accumulation in a cave.
Now, we know they are living creatures, not one but several working as a community. Yet, we still name it as "one".
If we had evolved from that, what would our life cycle be like? Perhaps a very slow metabolism? a nearly eternal life? The possibilities are endless!
As we search for life in other planets, we take for granted several things:
• It's in a water-based environment.
• The planet has to be in the "Goldilocks" area of the orbit allowing water to be in liquid state.
• It is carbon based (we do not claim it, but everyone expects that!... Some, Silicon).
• We will be able to observe it.
BUT...
Why do we do such thing when we already KNOW as a fact that life takes the most unimaginable shapes?
We could be kicking and drilling a rock at some lost planet, looking for a bacteria. Without being aware that the rock is the life we're looking for.
A probe could be passing through a Nebula or gas cloud, without knowing that the electric charges that cross it are actually part of the synapse of a highly intelligent and sentient being, that considers us "particles" from his perspective.
Even planets themselves could be considered "living" if we broaden the spectrum on which we measure "life". It wouldn't be the first time that a fact passes right under our eyes, just because we lack of the tools to measure it.
We need to think out of the box!!!
Limiting our imagination to the mere few preconceived ideas we have in our observable Universe is WRONG. Everyday, we find new species on earth, we tag and classify them. Because we know what we're looking for.
The SETI project takes for granted that any intelligent species would've developed a "radio" signal of some sort. When perhaps... We are the rarity in the universe having evolved to perceive the universe in a highly inefficient way.
We look at lights in the sky, searching for sub-luminic speed vehicles that are, obviously, useless for long distance travels in space. We consider that any alien, intelligent life form would think alike us, even at a mathematics and logic level. And believe that a diplomatic welcome would be the best choice; thinking that an "advanced civilization" is not based on reaping on weaker ones (even when we see it TODAY, the strong prevails).
We should keep our eyes open (VERY open). Because we may need to see something that is invisible to the eye. To perceive life in other worlds, we need to think "out of the world".
We should never take for granted that life is only as we know it. After all, we are sure alien life will not have DNA.
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