Name: 我們還能認出外星生命嗎？美國宇航局天體生物學家解釋說 (Would we even recognize alien life? NASA astrobiologist explains)
Uploaded: 2025-07-17T09:38:08.000Z
Duration: 2 min 54 s

情態副詞

It's actually quite an exciting time to be looking for life in the universe.

事實上，現在是尋找宇宙生命的激動人心的時刻。

I don't think we know for sure how life will look like, right?

我想我們還不能確定生活會是什麼樣子，對嗎？

We are absolutely biased by what is around us.

我們絕對會受到周圍事物的影響。

I mean, we are a form of life searching for itself.

我的意思是，我們是一種尋找自我的生命形式。

We have to find analogues on this planet that may resemble an ancient Mars surface, an ocean that may resemble the ice ocean of Europa.

我們必須在這顆行星上找到可能與古代火星表面相似的類似物，找到可能與歐羅巴冰洋相似的海洋。

This is very important for search for life in the universe.

這對於在宇宙中尋找生命非常重要。

This is also good for understanding human exploration of different planets too, as we may be close to visiting these planets ourselves.

這也有利於瞭解人類對不同星球的探索，因為我們可能就快要親自訪問這些星球了。

The more our telescopes are able to resolve more clearer pictures, the further we are able to see.

我們的望遠鏡越能分辨出更清晰的影像，我們就能看得越遠。

And what we are truly seeking is some sort of signature that is created by life, and by that what we mean is microbes.

我們真正要尋找的是由生命創造的某種特徵，我們指的是微生物。

What is missing in our knowledge, however, is knowing what kind of different signatures can microbes release into the atmosphere that could be detectable, and that would be the next challenge for the field, connecting the observables with the producers of that observable.

然而，我們的知識中缺少的是知道微生物能向大氣中釋放出什麼樣的不同信號，而這些信號是可以被探測到的，這將是該領域的下一個挑戰，即把可觀測物與可觀測物的製造者聯繫起來。

It's really optimistic to assume that a single smoking gun will be enough, that there will be one thing, and then we say, there it is, that's life.

假定只要有一把 "煙槍 "就夠了，只要有一樣東西，然後我們就說 "它就在那裡，這就是生命"，這實在是太樂觀了。

The complexity of biology shows us that over and over again, that it's not going to be the case.

生物學的複雜性一次又一次地告訴我們，事實並非如此。

That means that we will have to look at multiple levels of evidence.

這意味著我們必須研究多層次的證據。

We have to develop multiple levels of observations.

What it eats may be different, right, and how it poops may be different.

它吃的東西可能不一樣，對吧，它大便的方式也可能不一樣。

這將是一段有趣的時光，對嗎？

It's going to be so amazing for any biologist to want to know how this thing does what it does.

任何生物學家都想知道它是如何做到這一點的，這將是非常神奇的。

I mean, it's really exciting to think about this.

我的意思是，想到這一點真的很令人興奮。

Regardless of the composition of the planet or the moon, regardless of the stuff that is on this floating rock, if there is life, that means there is some chemistry on this planet.

不管這顆行星或月球的成分如何，也不管這塊浮石上有什麼東西，如果有生命存在，那就意味著這顆行星上有一些化學物質。

That's, I think, the biggest shift in our minds.

我認為，這是我們思想上最大的轉變。

It is not just the stuff, but it is the relationship between the chemistry and the remainder of the planet.

它不僅是物質，而且是化學與地球其他部分之間的關係。

If, or maybe I should say when, we discover life elsewhere, I hope that it would not be anything like we've ever thought of or imagined.

如果，或者我應該說，當我們在其他地方發現生命時，我希望它不會是我們曾經想過或想象過的那樣。

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

美國國家航空航天局噴氣推進實驗室、加州理工學院