ASU cosmologist theorizes about 'alien' life on Earth

Arizona State University cosmologist Paul Davies writes in the May 14 New York Times that “the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is predicated on the assumption, widely held today, that life would emerge readily on Earth-like planets. …But the notion of life as a cosmic imperative is not backed up by hard evidence.” 

Challenging the orthodox view that there is only one form of life, Davies asks in a column titled “The Aliens Among Us” whether “alternative microbes might, for example, have difference chemical elements.” 

Calling these hidden aliens “Life 2.0,” Davies concludes his essay with: “Should we find a second form of life right here on our doorstep, we could be confident that life is a truly cosmic phenomenon. If so, there may well be sentient beings somewhere in the galaxy wondering, as do we, if they are not along in the universe.” 

Davies, a professor in ASU’s Department of Physics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the author of recently released book “The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence,” in which he explains why we’ve spent so much time and money searching for ET but have nothing to show for it after 50 years. 

An internationally acclaimed theoretical physicist and astrobiologist, Davies also heads up two pioneering research institutes at ASU: BEYOND, the Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, a cosmic think tank; and the exciting new Center for the Convergence of Physical Science and Cancer Biology. 

His research is steeped in the branches of physics that deal with quantum gravity – an attempt to reconcile theories of the very large and the very small.