HUMANITY will make contact with alien life far sooner than you might think, according to one prominent scientist.
Nobel-Prize winner Professor Didier Queloz reckons we’ll find ET within 30 years, and says he’s convinced we’re not alone in the universe.
The Swiss astronomer, 53, works at the University of Cambridge and was one of three scientists to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics this week.
Speaking in London on Tuesday, he said: “I can’t believe we are the only living entity in the universe.
“There are just way to many planets, way too many stars, and the chemistry is universal.
“The chemistry that led to life has to happen elsewhere.”
Professor Queloz added that he’s certain alien life will have been detected from Earth within the next century.
However, he said it’s realistic that a machine capable of detecting biochemical activity on distant planets could be built within 30 years.
Currently, scientists know of a number of so-called exoplanets – world’s outside of our Solar System – that could harbour life, but don’t have the equipment to spot life.
A machine that detects biochemical activity from afar would grant experts the ability to find life at great distances. Once built, it’s likely only a matter of time until we get a positive hit.
Professor Queloz split this year’s Nobel for physics with colleague and fellow Swiss Professor Michel Mayor.
They were honoured for finding an exoplanet a planet outside our solar system that orbits a sun-like star.
Professors Mayor and Queloz started a revolution in astronomy when they discovered 51 Pegasi B, a gaseous ball comparable with Jupiter, in 1995.
The find was made at a time when, as Professor Mayor recalled, “no one knew whether exoplanets existed or not.”
That was “the first step in our search for, ‘Are we alone?'” said astronomer Dr Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University.
More than 4,000 exoplanets have since been found in the Milky Way, and scientists think one out of every four or five stars have planets.
“We have 200 billion stars out there in our galaxy alone, so I like our chances,” Dr Kaltenegger said.
TOP STORIES IN SCIENCE
In other ET news, UFOs could be “time machines” manned by humans from the future, according to one scientist.
New Nasa photo of Bennu doomsday asteroid is ‘littered with alien tech’, conspiracy theorists claim.
And, Nasa has released its best photos of yet of Bennu.
Do you think aliens exist? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk