SETI public: Electronic Sniffer To Track Down Alien Life

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http://www.howstuffworks.com/news-item93.htm

Electronic Sniffer To Track Down Alien Life
 
 
The next step that NASA plans to take in exploring the universe for
extraterrestrial beings will be an electronic sniffer that could be sent to
other planets to hunt down any signs of life. Carnegie Institution
scientist Marilyn Fogl is adapting a new protein-recognition instrument,
originally designed for finding signatures of life on Earth as part of her
work with NASA's Astrobiology Institute (NAI).
The device's molecular-recognition technology was initially developed to
help scientists understand how life arose in ancient and extreme
environments on Earth, but it could be just as useful in the field of
astrobiology. Astrobiology is the study of the origin of life on earth to
determine if life could exist elsewhere in the universe. The device, called
the ProteinChip System , consists of tiny, thin strips of metal coated with
different chemically active molecules that can bind and hold on to
compounds of complex mixtures according to their different properties,
including specific proteins -- the building blocks of life.

Since sending back samples from space is expensive and risky, scientists
are working to develop a self-contained laboratory that could be sent to
discover if life exists on Mars or Jupiter's moon, Europa. Once on one of
them, the lab would sniff out minute quantities of molecules, and remotely
weigh the samples' molecular mass and analyze them for evidence of life.

The equipment is currently located at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory in
Washington, D.C.
 

• Previous message: David Madison: "SETI public: The Flag of Earth now in the public domain"

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