What is the BIGGEST scientific discovery we can make?

Repeating myself here but, then asking the question...

Personally I believe that alien life -- genuine alien life,
not something that stuck to a NASA lander during launch --
would be the single biggest scientific discovery thus far.

The only thing bigger would be the discovery of an alien
civilization...

COULD THERE BE ANYTHING BIGGER, MORE IMPORTANT?

For the moment I am excluding Time Travel & Faster Than
Light drives from the realm of possibilities.

Or, "Probabilities" if you prefer.

Alien life is a matter of science, not the paranormal.

WE CAN DETECT ALIEN LIFE ON FAR AWAY WORLDS!

We can even detect an alien civilization.

They'd have to be close enough though. Because the way
we can find them is by analyzing the light from other
words.

Different substances -- elements, molecules -- absorb light
at different wavelengths. And we can analyze the light
coming off of a distant world and work out the composition
of their atmosphere.

We can detect Biosignatures:  The biproducts of life.

(Oxygen, methane, CO2, etc)

We can detect Technosignatures:  The biproducts of
industrialization i.e. POLLUTION!

Now almost none of these things all by themselves mean anything.
It's the quantities, the combinations... lots of factors, even
the planet's position in the solar system. They look at all of
these, searching for the finger prints of life.

And we will one day confirm it. Probably sooner rather than
later, assuming they already haven't already & just not told us.









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https://jtem.tumblr.com/tagged/The%20Book%20of%20JTEM/page/5