Page Content (OCR)
Since the latest counts give 100 milliard fixed stars in our Milky Way, probability indicates an incomparably higher figure than Professor Ley puts forward in his cautious calculation. Without quoting Utopian figures or taking unknown galaxies into account, we may surmise that there are 18,000 planets comparatively close to the earth with conditions essential to life similar to those of our own planet. Yet we can go even further and speculate that if only 1 per cent of these 18,000 planets were actually inhabited, there would still be 180 left! There is no doubt about the existence of planets similar to the earth-with a similar mixture of atmospheric gases, similar gravity, similar flora and possibly even similar fauna. But is it even essential for the planets that support life to have conditions similar to the earth's? The idea that life can only flourish under terrestrial conditions has been made obsolete by research. It is a mistake to believe that life cannot exist without water and oxygen. Even on our own earth there are forms of life that need no oxygen. They are called anaerobic bacteria. A given amount of oxygen acts like poison on them. Why should there not be higher forms of life that do not need oxygen? Under the pressure of the new knowledge that is being acquired every day we shall have to bring our mental world picture up to date. Scientific investigation, concentrated on our earth until very recently; has praised this world of ours as the ideal planet. It is not too hot and not too cold; it has plenty of In fact, the assumption that life can only exist and develop on a planet like the earth is untenable. It is estimated that two million different species of living creatures live on the earth. Of these—this again is an estimate—1-2 millions are 'known' scientifically. And among these forms of life known to science there are still a few thousand that ought not to be able to live at all according to current ideas! The premises for life must be thought out and tested anew. For example, one would think that highly radioactive water would be free from germs. But there are actually some kinds of bacteria which can adapt themselves to the lethal water that surrounds nuclear reactors. An experiment carried out by the scientist Dr Siegel sounds eery. He recreated the atmospheric conditions of Jupiter in his laboratory and bred bacteria and mites in this atmosphere, which shares none of the prerequisites we have hitherto laid down for ‘life’. Ammonia, methane and hydrogen did not kill them. The experiments by Hinton and Blum, the Bristol University entomologists, had equally startling results. The two scientists dried a species of midge for several hours at a temperature of 100° C. Immediately afterwards they immersed their 'guinea pigs' in liquid helium, which, as is well known, is as cold as space. After heavy irradiation they returned the midges to their normal living conditions. The insects continued their biological vital functions and produced perfectly 'healthy' midges. We also know of bacteria that live in volcanoes, of others that eat stone and some that produce iron. The forest of question marks grows. Experiments are going on at many research centres. New proofs that life is by no means bound to the prerequisites for life on our planet are constantly accumulating. For centuries the world appeared to revolve around the laws and conditions that govern life on earth. This conviction distorted and blurred water; there are unlimited quantities of oxygen; organic processes constantly rejuvenate nature. our way of looking at things; it put blinkers on scientific investigators, who unhesitatingly accepted