Scientists continue to look for signs or clues of alien life on planets other than Earth. Recently, exoplanets were discovered, the term for planets outside the Solar System, which is full of oceans and it is suspected that there could be living things in it.
Its name is Planet Hycean. This planet, as the name implies, is covered by oceans and is rich in hydrogen. The temperature is also high and the characteristics are very different from Planet Earth or more extreme.
However, University of Cambridge scientists who published their research in The Astrophysical Journal stated in theory, the Hyceans might support life in simple forms such as microbes, such as the oceans on our planet. Aliens do not have to look like humans, any life found in the universe can be called aliens.
"This Hycean planet opens up a whole new area in our search for life out there," said lead researcher Nikku Madhusudhan.
So far, the search for alien-habitable planets has generally targeted worlds that are as close to Earth as possible. Naturally, Earth is the only place known to support life.
Hycean is often overlooked because the temperature can reach 200 degrees Celsius and can be 10 times larger than Earth's mass. In other words, the chances of finding a living creature were not great. However, because the ocean is wide, it could actually have alien life.
"It is interesting that the conditions in which living things could exist could exist on a very different planet from Earth," said Anjali Piette, one of the researchers.
Of course at this time, the hypothesis of aliens in the Hyceans is still a theory. However, with the number of Hycean-type planets and the advancement of technology, it is not impossible that later life can be proven there.
"We have to be open-minded about where we expect to find alien life and what kind of creatures it is, because nature always surprises us in ways that are often unimaginable," said Madhusudhan.
