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May 17, 2008 12:42:06 AM CDT

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ET May Be Hiding In Plain Sight  

Posted Nov 24, 07 1:57 PM CST in Science & Health    Editor's Choice

(newser) – One popular theory on the origin of life holds that it is a “cosmic imperative”—inevitable on any Earth-like planet. That theory is being tested in a novel way, Scientific American reports: by searching for evidence of a “second genesis”—life on Earth that in some fundamental way differs from life as we know it.

If such “aliens” are among us they are probably microbes, the most common form of life, perhaps existing as a “shadow biosphere” hiding in plain sight. Scientists need to analyze the genetic sequences of a microbe to determine if it belongs on the tree of known life. Only a tiny fraction of microorganisms have been classified.

Source Scientific American

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ET May Be Hiding In Plain Sight
Scientists searching for life beyond Earth are most likely to find primitive microbes like these cyanobacteria, one of the most primitive organisms on our own planet. There may even be microbes living...   (KRT Photos)
ET May Be Hiding In Plain Sight
Common bacteria are seen in this file photo. Alternate life may be present on earth, in a form superficially similar to common microbes but using fundamentally different life processes.   (AP)
ET May Be Hiding In Plain Sight
The moon is photographed by the Rosetta spacecraft as it passes earth, Nov. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/European Space Agency)   (Associated Press)
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