Chapter 9
Exobiolab: Different Life
on Different Planets
Sabrina Masiero and Marco Sergio Erculiani
9.1 Introduction
If at first the idea is not absurd then there is no hope for it.
Albert Einstein
The search for extraterrestrial life is undoubtedly one of the most attractive topics
in science, particularly to children. With increasing evidence to suggest that the
majority of Sun-like stars play host to their own planetary systems, the idea of
alien life is seeming ever-more realistic. When we talk about extraterrestrial life, the
prevalent popular conception is the green aliens with two big eyes, two legs and two
arms. In other words, life with anthropomorphic characteristics. We know well it
takes hard work to counter this and other misconceptions, particularly if we aim to
remove them from the minds of children. The idea about a laboratory on exoplanets
and alien environments may seem at first a tad wild, like the one that animated—
and led—to the birth of the Center GAL Hassin in Isnello. The first idea to create an
ExoBioLaboratory was born some years ago to involve young students in developing
their imagination and curiosity about life on other worlds. The ability to imagine is
what drives creativity, enables clear thinking and inspires a sense of humanity. The
search for life has had a new enthusiastic restart in the last two decades thanks to the
large number of new worlds discovered. The about 4200 exoplanets found so far, show
a large diversity of planets, from hot giants to rocky planets orbiting small and cold
S. Masiero (B)
GAL Hassin Foundation - International Center for Astronomical Sciences, Isnello (PA), Italy
e-mail: sabrina.masiero@inaf.it
Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF),
Palermo, Italy
M. S. Erculiani
IRA-Istituto di Radioastronomia, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF),
Bologna, Italy
e-mail: marco.erculiani@inaf.it
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Montebugnoli and A. Melis (eds.), The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence,
Springer Proceedings in Physics 260, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63806-1_9
85
Exobiolab: Different Life
on Different Planets
Sabrina Masiero and Marco Sergio Erculiani
9.1 Introduction
If at first the idea is not absurd then there is no hope for it.
Albert Einstein
The search for extraterrestrial life is undoubtedly one of the most attractive topics
in science, particularly to children. With increasing evidence to suggest that the
majority of Sun-like stars play host to their own planetary systems, the idea of
alien life is seeming ever-more realistic. When we talk about extraterrestrial life, the
prevalent popular conception is the green aliens with two big eyes, two legs and two
arms. In other words, life with anthropomorphic characteristics. We know well it
takes hard work to counter this and other misconceptions, particularly if we aim to
remove them from the minds of children. The idea about a laboratory on exoplanets
and alien environments may seem at first a tad wild, like the one that animated—
and led—to the birth of the Center GAL Hassin in Isnello. The first idea to create an
ExoBioLaboratory was born some years ago to involve young students in developing
their imagination and curiosity about life on other worlds. The ability to imagine is
what drives creativity, enables clear thinking and inspires a sense of humanity. The
search for life has had a new enthusiastic restart in the last two decades thanks to the
large number of new worlds discovered. The about 4200 exoplanets found so far, show
a large diversity of planets, from hot giants to rocky planets orbiting small and cold
S. Masiero (B)
GAL Hassin Foundation - International Center for Astronomical Sciences, Isnello (PA), Italy
e-mail: sabrina.masiero@inaf.it
Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF),
Palermo, Italy
M. S. Erculiani
IRA-Istituto di Radioastronomia, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF),
Bologna, Italy
e-mail: marco.erculiani@inaf.it
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Montebugnoli and A. Melis (eds.), The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence,
Springer Proceedings in Physics 260, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63806-1_9
85