This got Atri thinking. He researches cosmic rays: charged particles that shower through space, but from which we are protected by Earth’s atmosphere. If life on Earth could use radiation to get the building blocks it needed to survive in its environment, could galactic cosmic rays have a similar effect on planets where the particles reach the surface? In his paper, he demonstrates that—at least theoretically—indeed they could, as long as the planet had a thin enough atmosphere, and some trace amounts of water and other nutrients.
Testing his theory through simulations and calculations, Atri showed that cosmic rays could reach several feet below the surface of a body such as Mars, where bits of nutrients and pockets of water would be broken apart, allowing for similar, simple life forms to survive. This opens up the possibilities for where we might find life in our solar system and beyond. Rather than sticking to Goldilocks planets—not too hot or cold, similar size to Earth, with a similar distance to a star, and a similar atmosphere to allow for liquid water—we could consider stars with no atmosphere, and even bodies with no star.
“Generally when we talk about looking for life elsewhere, we are looking for life exactly like ours,” Atri said. “But this is a completely different type of energy. Our atmosphere protects us from radiation, but for radiolysis to happen the planet needs lots of cosmic rays [and little protection]. It’s actually the opposite of what we think of finding life in other places.”
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