A new study searches for extraterrestrial life based on "unknown chemistry"

Until now, the only life form that we know of is that which has expressed itself (in many species and forms) on planet Earth. But, if there really is extraterrestrial life in space, how can our sensors be able to detect something unknown? This study explains how it will be possible. A new study will attempt to search for extraterrestrial life based on “unknown chemistry” Scientists began the search for extraterrestrial life in the cosmos in earnest many decades ago, but this life could be profoundly different from what we know: it could have arisen from chemistry that we do not yet know, and current methods based on the detection of so-called “biosignatures” may not be adequate. A new study by a joint team between Japan and the United States, led by researchers from Earth- Life Science Institute (ELSI), at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, has developed a »machine learning» technique that evaluates different mixtures of organic compounds and uses mass spectrometry to classify the samples under examination as possible biological evidence or not. Today, there are many ways in which scientists are searching for extraterrestrial life. For example, many tests and analyzes have long been based on listening to radio signals from possible advanced civilizations in deep space. An attempt has also been made to analyze the differences in the atmospheric composition of planets orbiting other stars, or an attempt has been made to analyze samples that have been collected from other planets (as has been done with the Perseverance rover mission) .However, all that has been sought to date has been “lives” that are compatible with human knowledge and the factor of “life based on a different chemistry” had not been taken into account. Using a very high resolution technique known as Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (or FT-ICR MS), scientists have been able to measure and catalog the mass spectra of a wide variety of complex organic mixtures, such as those derived from laboratory obtained biological samples, organic mixtures found in meteorites and raw oil (or natural crude oil, the kind we pump out of the ground and turn into gasoline). By feeding their raw data into a machine learning algorithm the researchers surprisingly discovered that the tools could accurately classify the samples as alive or not alive with approximately 95% accuracy. ” This work opens up many interesting avenues… we cannot predict every chemical variable in the universe, but we can go deeper into astrobiology research and analysis, “said co-author Huan Chen, a researcher at the US National MagLab.