Panspermia correlations (IMAGE)

Institute of Science Tokyo

Panspermia correlations

Caption

If life can travel to other planets and terraform them, it is expected that patterns will emerge between the locations of planets and their observable characteristics (for example, atmospheric composition). On the left, planets (coloured dots) show no correlation between their locations and their characteristics (represented by colour). However, if life capable of panspermia and terraforming arises, then correlations emerge (shown as dashed line groups of similar colours). In the model, life chooses its destination by looking for the planet with the most similar composition within some maximum distance (shown on the left by a dashed circle).

Credit

Harrison B. Smith

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License

CC BY-NC-ND

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