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Space

We know the best spots to look for alien life – can we get to them?

Extraterrestrial oceans are an obvious place to search for alien life, but getting there and having a look won't be easy, says NASA's Kevin Hand in his book Alien Oceans

By Simon Ings

22 April 2020

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Europa could be the best place to look for alien life in our solar system

Nasa/Jpl-Caltech/Seti Institute

Book

Alien Oceans: The search for life in the depths of space

Kevin Hand

Princeton University Press

IN THE late 1970s, two different voyages of discovery transformed our ideas about alien life. In 1977, hydrothermal vents were found, belching out “smoke” in the Galapagos rift at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The smoke was actually a superheated fluid rich in hydrogen, methane, hydrogen sulphide and minerals essential to life.

The chimneys were host to never-before-seen creatures, thriving in a place we had…

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