A groundbreaking study has claimed that dinosaurs might be roaming on some other planets! The study, published recently in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Journal, suggests that although the diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria first appeared during the Triassic Period (between 243 and 233.23 million years ago) are no more on the Earth, there is a strong possibility that some dinosaur-like species are still alive on other planets… far away from Mother Earth.

Lisa Kaltenegger, the Lead Author of the study, has said: “Our current understanding of habitable planets has been heavily influenced by Earth’s distinct light fingerprint, but there was a time when this fingerprint was even stronger, making signs of life easier to detect.” According to Kaltenegger, the good piece of news is that humans have the technology which can detect the species.

The Lead Author has stressed that detecting the Jurassic World on other planets is not at all a tough job because of modern technological advancement. She is of the opinion that researchers could easily detect such probable life on other planets with the help of technology. Kaltenegger has explained that these sorts of possible extraterrestrial creatures live in compounds which are not available on present-day Earth. However, such compounds were prevalent on the Earth during the Triassic Period. She has stated that the increased oxygen levels during the age of dinosaurs could serve as a valuable indicator for the existence of complex life on other planets.

It may be noted that the Earth had higher levels of oxygen, nearly 30%, during the Triassic Period, allowing the complex creatures to grow. Now, oxygen levels have stabilised at 21% on the Earth. Hence, it is not possible for dinosaurs to live on this planet.

Researchers believe that they could detect the life of dinosaur-like species on other planets through advanced telescopes from the Earth. Such telescopes would help researchers find whether a planet is in a Phanerozoic Stage. If a planet is in the Phanerozoic Stage, then it can host large and complex life forms, including dinosaurs. In November 2023, Cornell University Scientist Rebecca Payne told The Sun: “The Phanerozoic is just the most recent 12% or so of Earth’s history, but it encompasses nearly all of the time in which life was more complex than microbes and sponges.” She added: “This gives us hope that it might be just a little bit easier to find signs of life – even large, complex life – elsewhere in the cosmos.“

Meanwhile, Katlenegger claimed that another method could be searching for planets with higher levels of oxygen. She has opined that planets with high levels of oxygen could lead to the discovery of interesting life forms, apart from making the entire searching process a bit easier.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das