Alien life forms could glow, say scientists

[UM-Bot]

It may be possible to detect signs of extraterrestrial life on a distant world by picking up its biofluorescence.

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/329928/alien-life-forms-could-glow-say-scientists

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

Yeah, glow worms, fire flies.  Nothing magic there 

[ThereWeAreThen]

ET life could also be made out of marshmallow.....

 

Not really groundbreaking from them, sounds like they're bored.

[Nnicolette]

I hate all these wild baseless articles about speculation. Are they actually researching anything? What a ridiculous way to search for alien life. Theres things here that do that can you see them from space? Noooo

[Dark_Grey]

1 hour ago, Nnicolette said:

I hate all these wild baseless articles about speculation. Are they actually researching anything? What a ridiculous way to search for alien life. Theres things here that do that can you see them from space? Noooo

That's basically what I was about to post. 

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O'Malley-James and his team analyzed the fluorescence produced by coral pigments and proteins, then used that to model the types of light that could be emitted by life on red dwarf-orbiting planets. They accounted for various features of potential exoplanets, such as cloud cover. It turned out that a cloud-free planet covered in fluorescing creatures could produce a temporary change in brightness that's potentially detectable. What's more, because red dwarfs aren't as bright as our sun, they wouldn't mask these potential biosignatures, or signs of life. 

A planet with no clouds, covered in glowing creatures may produce light detectable by a high powered telescope. That's O'Malley's conclusion.

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But "for us to have a chance of detecting biofluorescence on a planet, a large portion of the planet would have to be covered by whatever creatures are fluorescing," O'Malley-James said.

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What's more, we don't yet have telescopes strong enough to detect even a planet where every inch of its surface is covered in glowing creatures. 

 OK? Slow news week at the Royal Astronomical Society.

[XenoFish]

1 hour ago, Nnicolette said:

I hate all these wild baseless articles about speculation. Are they actually researching anything? What a ridiculous way to search for alien life. Theres things here that do that can you see them from space? Noooo

What's the point of looking for alien life if you don't brainstorm a few ideas. Might as well aim the telescope and look through them with your eyes closed.