The oldest continents in the Milky Way could have appeared 5 billion years before Earth was formed, which could suggest that several worlds in our galaxy at once could be home to alien life more advanced than our own.
It is noted that oxygen in the atmosphere and liquid water are required to sustain life on the planet. Despite the fact that large land masses are not necessary for the emergence of living organisms, the history of the Earth suggests their importance for its development and long-term existence. Therefore, if a certain exoplanet had continents long before our planet, it may have older and more advanced life on it.
Specialists from Cardiff University wondered when exactly the first continents formed on planets in our galaxy. They found that on two exoplanets in the Milky Way, continents and probably life could have appeared more than 4 billion years before it happened on Earth.
Scientists emphasised that if the other planet had such a huge backdrop, it could well have more advanced life than ours. To find such worlds, experts tracked the levels of uranium-238 and potassium in nearby stars and their ages, measured by the Gaia satellite, to determine which rocky planets had heated up enough for tectonic plate movement.
