'Extra-terrestrial life too advanced for us'
from Ananova
Story filed: 00:29 Wednesday 27th June 2001
Life elsewhere in the universe is likely to be billions of years more advanced than it is on Earth, according to a scientist.
Research suggests that our world is probably far younger than most other Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars.
The Earth is around 4.5 billion years old. But a new study looking at the way terrestrial planets form indicates that by cosmic standards it is a relative newcomer.
Dr Charles Lineweaver, from the University of New South Wales in Australia, says in a paper to appear in the planetary science journal Icarus: "Three-quarters of the Earth-like planets in the universe areolder than the Earth and their average age is 1.8 (plus or minus 0.9) billion years older than the Earth."
If true, it could explain why attempts to contact alien civilisations have met with no success as they could be so remote from us in evolutionary terms as we are from the amoeba.
Communication is impossible.
The 50 or so huge planets known to exist around stars other than the Sun had orbits which would inevitably destroy any Earth-like worlds, said Dr Lineweaver.
By combining the most recent data about these extra-solar planets and the rate of star formation in the universe, he was able to calculate the probable distribution of terrestrial planets.
The study was not directly concerned with life. But Dr Lineweaver said the analysis provided a "rare clue" about how we might compare withother life in the universe.
Story filed: 00:29 Wednesday 27th June 2001