Is this the key to finding life beyond Earth? Scientists develop an AI system that can detect aliens with 90% accuracy

For centuries, humanity has been fascinated by the thought of life on other planets.

But how will we recognize it when we see it?

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence system that can detect signs of life with 90 percent accuracy.

And they say it marks a “significant advance” in our ability to detect life across the solar system and beyond.

Many of the components necessary for life, such as amino acids and nucleotides needed to make DNA, have been detected in space.

This photo taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover on August 6, 2021, shows the hole drilled into a rock on Mars in preparation for the rover’s first attempt to collect a sample

But it’s difficult to determine whether they are biotic, meaning they are a sign of life, or if they are abiotic, meaning they involve non-living things like gases and chemicals.

Scientists at George Mason University in Virginia have devised an AI model that can predict with 90 percent accuracy whether a sample is biotic or abiotic.

They created it by analyzing 134 varied samples from a range of living cells, fossil fuels, meteorites and organic compounds.

The analysis involved separating the sample into its component parts and detecting subtle differences between molecular patterns and weights.

Lead researcher Dr Robert Hazen said: ‘This is a significant advance in our ability to recognize biochemical signs of life on other worlds.

‘It opens the way to the use of smart sensors on unmanned spaceships to search for signs of life.

‘These results mean that we may be able to find a life form from another planet, another biosphere, even if it is very different from the life we ​​know on Earth.

“And if we find signs of life elsewhere, we can see whether life on Earth and other planets has a common or different origin.”

The team believes their model can be used to test samples already collected by the Mars Curiosity rover.

The team believes their model can be used to test samples already collected by the Mars Curiosity rover

It could also help scientists reveal the history of mysterious, ancient rocks on Earth to determine when life began.

“This routine analytical method has the potential to revolutionize the search for extraterrestrial life and deepen our understanding of both the origins and chemistry of the earliest life on Earth,” said Dr. Hazen.

‘It opens the way for the use of smart sensors on robotic spacecraft, landers and rovers to search for signs of life before the samples return to Earth.’

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.