Alien Life Detector - A group of European scientists have developed a revolutionary new nano-sized motion detector that may breathe new life into the search for life in other planets.
The alien life detector, which was built by three scientists from the University of Lausanne, EPFL and Vlaams Institute for Biotechnology, uses a really small cantilever system to detect the movement of microorganisms. Basically, the system works by detecting and recording the biological motions from any microorganism attached to its tiny cantilever.
According to the result of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the scientists, who developed this revolutionary alien life detector, were able to use it successfully to detect the presence of living cells in several controlled samples, including human cells, bacteria, yeast and mouse.
Unlike the current chemical-based search for extraterrestrial life, the use of this nano-motion sensor could prove to be much more efficient and also far less expensive.
Giovanni Longo, one of the scientists behind the alien life detector, says the "nanomotion detector can detect any small movement of living systems and deliver a complimentary point of view in the search for life."
Nonetheless, since the technology works by recording the motion of a sample affixed to it, critics have questioned how functional it would be in the unpredictable ecosystem of far away planets.
Giovanni Dietler, one of the developers of the alien life detector, said him and his colleagues have reached out to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well as the European Space Agency (EPA) over the possibility of adopting the new technology in the search for extra terrestrial life. Nonetheless, they are not limiting the scope of the new alien life detector to space missions.
Dietler says since the nano-sized biological motion detector works completely chemical free, it can even be used in medical research (particularly drug testing).
While many experts have applauded the ingenuity of the alien life detector technology, they say it may take many years before it may be actually deployed on space missions.
