Could Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope detect alien life?

[Radu Almasanu]

When I was looking on the BBC website, and I saw this, first I thought it might have been clickbait, so I read it, "The US space agency boasts that it will literally "look back in time to see the very first galaxies that formed in the early Universe" " (To be honest I really doubt it will be able to look back in time, anyway) "As if those claims were not bold enough..." (something bolder than saying that it can look at the beginning of time itself as we see it, I wonder what could it be) "that the eventual successor to the world famous and beloved Hubble Space Telescope may (thanks to its 6.5m golden mirror and exquisitely sensitive cameras) have an another extraordinary talent ... The JWST, as it is called, may be able to look for signs of alien life - detecting whether atmospheres of planets orbiting nearby stars are being modified by that life ... Despite this, the project to build it narrowly survived cancellation by the US Government in 2011 ... an estimated $10bn(billion) rather than it's originally planned $1bn(billion)." That was most information about the Space Telescope, but the article goes more in-depth about how JWST works, which solar system the Space Telescope would be focusing on. Anyways, I believe it might be able to detect life forms on the planet but thinking that it can look back on time itself like seeing the big bang, that was approximately 13.8 billion years ago, I am doubtfully about that but that's me tell me what you think about the article, and what you believe that the Space Telescope ability be? 

Article - https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45400144

[BenNourse]

I agree with you that it would most likely be not able to actually look back in time since if we were able to do this it would alter our understanding of the universe and from this we would be able to most likely jump decades of advancements in technology in a very short time . I think it is also a cool thing that maybe in our generation NASA might be able to contact alien life if it does exist.

[Radu Almasanu]

I agree with you that it would most likely be not able to actually look back in time since if we were able to do this it would alter our understanding of the universe and from this we would be able to most likely jump decades of advancements in technology in a very  short time . I think it is also a cool thing that maybe in our generation NASA might be able to contact alien life if it does exist.

ya it would be cool in some ways, but you have to think what would the world do, no, what would an average human think that aliens do exist, and what if they attack us, it might be the end for humanity, well I guess only time would tell

[TombeAndreaSantos]

I also agree with the fact that the camera would not be able to look back in time, to the earlier stages of the universe. If they aren't bluffing it would be one of mankind's most influential pieces of technology ever. If this is what's happening in 2018, just imagine what we could have in 2020.

[Olufemi Afolabi]

while this seems nice and all i do not believe this type of technological advancement would come anytime soon. but in the near future when it finally does, it will be one of the biggest scientific breakthrough ever achieved and we will finally be able to end the long time debate of the existence of extraterrestrial lifeforms. i personally believe that this project should be abandoned, for if aliens were to be ever proven to exist it would send most people to a state of panic and many will not be able to live in peace due to their lingering fear of a coming invasion. knowing NASA if they ever discovered extraterrestrial lifeforms they might try to build a rocket in order to make physical contact with them and i personally am against that.

[Easton Huley]

When I was looking on the BBC website, and I saw this, first I thought it might have been clickbait, so I read it, "The US space agency boasts that it will literally "look back in time to see the very first galaxies that formed in the early Universe" " (To be honest I really doubt it will be able to look back in time, anyway) "As if those claims were not bold enough..." (something bolder than saying that it can look at the beginning of time itself as we see it, I wonder what could it be) "that the eventual successor to the world famous and beloved Hubble Space Telescope may (thanks to its 6.5m golden mirror and exquisitely sensitive cameras) have an another extraordinary talent ... The JWST, as it is called, may be able to look for signs of alien life - detecting whether atmospheres of planets orbiting nearby stars are being modified by that life ... Despite this, the project to build it narrowly survived cancellation by the US Government in 2011 ... an estimated $10bn(billion) rather than it's originally planned $1bn(billion)." That was most information about the Space Telescope, but the article goes more in-depth about how JWST works, which solar system the Space Telescope would be focusing on. Anyways, I believe it might be able to detect life forms on the planet but thinking that it can look back on time itself like seeing the big bang, that was approximately 13.8 billion years ago, I am doubtfully about that but that's me tell me what you think about the article, and what you believe that the Space Telescope ability be? 

Article - https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45400144





I think that the fact they can see 13.8 billion years in the past due to that light just hitting the lens that it will give us great details about the past. It will possibly create new theories about the potential beginning of the universe and also possibly debunk some questions we have regarding physics and space. It may also lead to new breakthrough discoveries but might spark a debate between physics and religion about the big bang.

[Blake Cherpin]

I also think that it is very unlikely that this JWST could "look back in time" at the early galaxies, but NASA is full of surprises so who knows for sure. They may be making a stretch though, they could mean that they could make some sort of educated guess as to what exactly occurred at the big bang. The part of the article that talks about measuring chemical imbalances in distant planets atmospheres is very interesting. This seems to be a very useful feature that the JWST has. Finding alien life would be an incredible discovery, and this method seems to be the best option as of right now.