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Renowned astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar has called for the search for the presence of life on moon, particularly in those regions where water has been found. Narlikar is the founder-director of the Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Addressing the 'Searching for micro-life in the earth's atmosphere' conference in Goa on Sunday, he mentioned that the presence of water can be an indication for the presence of life also.
"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 said that life exists even at an altitude of 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.
He mentioned that the balloon testes, which were conducted in 2001 and 2005, have proved the presence of micro-organisms at a height of 41 km from earth’s surface.
"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. He also mentioned that these new strains were ultra-violet resistant ones.
He mentioned that these bacteria would have entered the atmosphere of the earth by means 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.
