After water, check for life on moon: Jayant Narlikar

PANAJI - Noted astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar has urged that the moon be scanned for micro-organisms in its environment, especially in areas where traces of water have been found.

Speaking during a lecture on ‘Searching for micro-life in the earth’s atmosphere’ in Goa Sunday, Narlikar said that the discovery of water on the moon called for a fresh perspective on the issue of life on the moon.

“If we have found water on the moon, then we must look for signs of life there,” Narlikar, a Padma Vibhushan award winner, said. He added that there were traces of life even 41 km above the earth.

“Experiments by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and other scientific institutes in India have found micro-life in forms which are not found on the earth’s surface,” he said.

Referring to two successful balloon tests conducted in 2001 and 2005 under the aegis of ISRO, the founder-director of the Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCCA) said that air samples collected by releasing the balloons up to a height of 41 km had confirmed the presence of micro-organisms not known otherwise on earth.

“Air was pumped into stainless steel tubes 41 km from the earth’s surface. Examination of the contents were then carried out by testing laboratories in Cardiff, UK and in India. We found three new bacteria which were not found on earth,” he said, adding that the new bacteria were immune to bombardment by ultra violet rays, unlike bacteria found on earth.

Narlikar added that the new bacteria, two of which were named after Indian astronomer Aryabhatta and ISRO, could have slipped into the earth’s atmosphere, after coming in contact with the tail of a comet travelling through space.

“These new life forms could have been trapped into the comet’s tail as they travelled through space and found their way into the earth’s atmosphere when they passed alongside,” he said.