Philae's comet may host alien 'life'

Astronomers proposed a novel explanation Monday for the strange appearance of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko carrying Europe's robot probe Philae through outer space: alien microscopic life.

Many of the frozen dust ball's features, which include a black crust over lakes of ice, flat-bottomed craters and mega-boulders scattered on the surface, were "consistent" with the presence of microbes, they said.

In fact, the comet racing towards the Sun at a speed of 32.9 kilometres (20.4 miles) per second, "could be more hospitable to micro-life than our Arctic and Antarctic regions."

They pointed to Rosetta's detection of complex organic material, which gave the comet its surprisingly super-dark and low-reflecting surface, as "evidence for life."

As 67P approaches its closest point to the Sun, about 185 million km on August 13, "the micro-organisms should become increasingly active," the pair speculated.

And hopefully Rosetta and Philae will catch some of the action live.