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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nScientists from Cornell University believe they have taken a major step forward in the search for aliens. In a new study, they claim that planets harbouring alien life may give off a distinctive purple hue (artist\u2019s impression)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Life on Earth is usually associated with a familiar green hue.<\/p>\n
However, life on other planets might look very different.<\/p>\n
\u2018We need to create a database for signs of life to make sure our telescopes don\u2019t miss life if it happens not to look exactly like what we encounter around us every day,\u2019 Dr Kaltenegger said.<\/p>\n
The researchers catalogued the colours and chemical signatures from a diverse range of organisms and minerals.<\/p>\n
Their analysis revealed that purple bacteria can use invisible infrared radiation to power photosynthesis.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe researchers catalogued the colours and chemical signatures from a diverse range of organisms and minerals. Their analysis revealed that purple bacteria can use invisible infrared radiation to power photosynthesis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For this reason, purple bacteria are likely to have been prevalent on early Earth before the advent of plant-type photosynthesis, the researchers said.<\/p>\n
\u2018They already thrive here in certain niches,\u2019 said L\u00edgia Fonseca Coelho, first author of the study.<\/p>\n
Beyond Earth, purple bacteria could be particularly well-suited to planets that orbit cooler red dwarf stars \u2013 the most common type in our galaxy.<\/p>\n
\u2018Just imagine if they were not competing with green plants, algae and bacteria,\u2019 Dr Coelho added,<\/p>\n
\u2018A red sun could give them the most favourable conditions for photosynthesis.\u2019<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the researchers say that these worlds would produce a distinctive \u2018light fingerprint\u2019 that we could detect using both ground- and space-based telescopes.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBeyond Earth, purple bacteria could be particularly well-suited to planets that orbit cooler red dwarf stars \u2013 the most common type in our galaxy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018If purple bacteria are thriving on the surface of a frozen Earth, an ocean world, a snowball Earth or a modern Earth orbiting a cooler star, we now have the tools to search for them,\u2019 said Dr Coelho.<\/p>\n
The new study comes shortly after scientists suggested that alien life could be hiding much closer to home.<\/p>\n