- Despite the incredibly extensive study of the origins of life on Earth, we are not yet sure exactly how the first life forms of our planet were created.
- It is possible, say many scientists, that life on Earth came from elsewhere.
- Right now, the main candidate for a source of life that could have sown the Earth is our neighbor, Mars.
How did life on earth begin? It seems like such a simple question, but because of the billions of years that have passed since the first life forms began to do things on our planet, we simply do not know the answer. It is possible that life on our planet appeared here, but it may be as likely that it originated elsewhere, such as Mars.
The scientific concept that life could spread organically from one planet to another is called panspermia and is not as wild as it may sound. We already know that the rocks on Mars came to Earth because we found them here, but if ancient Mars were to host life, what are the chances that life on Earth will be the direct result of life forms extracted from Mars and sent with high speed to Earth?
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We have no way of proving that panspermia ever occurred. Earth is the only planet we know that has ever hosted life, so we have no way of knowing if it is a valid theory and, moreover, if panspermia is responsible for the fact that we are all here today. In a recent interview with ViceHarvard astrophysicist Amir Siraj provides a high-level overview of how panspermia might occur and the different ways in which it might sow life on other planets or perhaps even other stellar systems.
The events that would lead to a planet like Mars sending life to Earth are actually very simple. A strong impact of an asteroid hitting the surface of a living Mars could send rocks into space. Some of these rocks could eventually be on a collision course with Earth, and if those rocks have microbial life, those tiny life forms could survive an impact on Earth, sowing our planet with life.
Since we have already found pieces of Mars on Earth, we know that this type of interplanetary material exchange is indeed taking place, but we cannot know for sure whether Mars ever had life, much less whether or not theoretical life traveled to Earth.
Some more extreme theories of panspermia suggest that it may be possible for objects to graze on a planet’s atmosphere, pick up some microbes during flight, and leave the solar system and eventually reach another. If that microbial life survives the journey and the rock hits a habitable planet in another system, it could spread life in a similar way.
At this point, all of this remains totally theoretical, but eventually it could change. If we find microbial life on Mars or evidence of past life, we will be left with the question of whether that life is really our ancient ancestor or whether life developed on both Mars and Earth in the same few billion years.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games over the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, portable devices, smartphones and future technology. Most recently, Mike served as technical editor at The Daily Dot and was featured in USA Today, Time.com and countless other internet outlets and printmakers. His love of reporting is second only to gambling addiction.