Philae Could Be Looking At Life on Comet 67P

Does life exist beneath the icy surface of comet 67P? Leading astronomers who examined data from Philae and Rosetta have caused a stir by arguing only life can explain the data.

According to The Guardian, the black hydrocarbon crust and clusters of organic material are signs of life, scientists at Cardiff University believe. Computer simulations using the data suggest microorganisms thrive in the regions of frozen ice, possibly with salts that help them survive at temperatures as low as -40 degree Celsius.

One of the leading theories explaining life on Earth is that microbial life made its way to the planet from comets that crashed into it.

Scientists Chandra Wickramasinghe and Max Wallis of Cardiff University who performed the simulations reportedly suggested that basic equipment to test life be included on Rosetta and Philae, the spacecraft's lander. However their suggestion was laughed out of court. With such equipment, Philae could have confirmed if life exists on the comet.

"I wanted to include a very inexpensive life-detection experiment. At the time it was thought this was a bizarre proposition. Data from the comet seems to unequivocally point to micro-organisms being involved," Wickramasinghe said according to Irish Mirror.