If life exists on other planets, we鈥檒l find the words
In February, the rover Perseverance arrived on Mars after an almost eight-month journey, tasked with looking for signs of ancient life. Though no firm evidence of life beyond Earth has yet been found, the English language is already full of words to talk about it.聽
The search for life on other planets is part of the science of astrobiology. The prefix astro- is 鈥渟tar鈥� in Latin and Greek and, predictably, appears in astronomy, the study of objects beyond the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.聽
Astrobiologists aren鈥檛 just looking for microbes on Mars. They are also trying to predict what life might look like under conditions vastly different from those on Earth. Physicists Luis Anchordoqui and Eugene Chudnovsky speculate that there might be life inside stars, for example. Hypothetical particles called magnetic monopoles might assemble into chains and 3D structures, and be able to replicate by using energy from the star鈥檚 fusion. This is not 鈥渓ife as we know it,鈥� to misquote 鈥淪tar Trek,鈥� but these particle chains would be 鈥渁live鈥� at least by some definitions. A group of astrobiologists has proposed a term that would more obviously include 鈥渃reatures鈥� like these, so unlike anything found on Earth: lyfe. Lyfe (pronounced 鈥渓oife鈥�) is a broader category that would encourage scientists to think outside the box, to 鈥渙pen [them]selves up to exploring the full parameter space of physical and chemical interactions that may create life,鈥� write Stuart Bartlett and Michael Wong.聽
In novels and films, when scientists go looking for extraterrestrial life they usually find aliens, first used in this sense in 1929. Alien derives ultimately from Latin alius 鈥� 鈥渙ther鈥� 鈥� and appeared in English in the 14th century, meaning 鈥渇oreign鈥� or 鈥渇oreigner.鈥� While it was and is sometimes a neutral word, its connotations are often negative 鈥� 鈥渁lien species鈥� damage ecosystems to which they don鈥檛 belong; according to Merriam-Webster, alien suggests 鈥渙pposition, repugnance, or irreconcilability.鈥� This connotation works perfectly in films such as 1979鈥檚 鈥淎lien,鈥� whose title character is a gruesome and deadly predator. But the term 鈥渋llegal alien,鈥� referring to immigrants without legal authorization, is now considered offensive.聽
At least one word in English comes from an alien language: grok. It doesn鈥檛 really, of course 鈥� Robert Heinlein coined it in his 1961 novel, 鈥淪tranger in a Strange Land,鈥� about a human raised on Mars by aliens. Heinlein鈥檚 Martians are smart and empathetic; grok is defined as 鈥渢o understand profoundly and intuitively鈥� in Merriam-Webster. This 鈥淢artian鈥� word is now widely used in English, especially in techie fields.
Will Perseverance find nothing but rocks and dust, or will it discover lyfe on Mars? And will we be able to grok it?
