One of Britain’s leading scientists has declared that she is absolutely convinced that extraterrestrial life exists and that it will be discovered within the next fifty years. Maggie Aderin-Pocock from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London expects the discovery of life on another planet until 2075.
“There are approximately 200 billion galaxies in the entire universe. And even if there were certain conditions for life here on Earth, and this is our only example, I am completely convinced that life exists elsewhere, because with so many stars and so many planets – why should it only arise here?” said Aderinová-Pococková to The Mail.
The prediction was made in an interview ahead of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, which traditionally focus on the biggest questions in contemporary space science. The astrophysicist from the University of London explained that her belief is based on the so-called Drake’s equation, which shows the high probability of the existence of life elsewhere.
“There are 300 billion stars in our galaxy alone – the Milky Way. Each of these stars is a sun similar to our Sun, and now we are detecting planets orbiting these stars,” continued Aderinová-Pococková.
She also said that we are already getting hints of possible life from some of these planets, such as the exoplanet K2-18b, located 124 light-years from Earth. Molecules have been detected in the planet’s atmosphere that could only exist permanently if some form of life existed. “I think the main challenge will be to get concrete evidence. But as far as a positive detection is concerned, I would say definitely within the next fifty years,” she added.
