NASA is developing the Chemical Laptop to detect aliens

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is developing a miniaturized laboratory called "Chemical Laptop" that can analyze samples to detect signs of life. The tool can read a sample of material on outer space and figure out the signature of life on another world.

According to NASA, the tool is like a tricorder from "Star Trek". It is a miniaturized laboratory which researchers hope to send one day to another planet such as Mars and Europa.

It is roughly the size of a regular computing laptop, but much thicker to make room for chemical analysis components inside. The tool has to ingest a sample to analyze it.

The Chemical Laptop is designed to detect the presence of amino acids and fatty acids, the organic compounds that can be a signature of life. These organic compounds can also be found in non-life sources.

On Inverse, it describes the Chemical Laptop further by saying the amino acids both with and without biological potential are difficult to be differentiated as they are equal in magnitude and electric charge.

But the NASA JPL's project leader Peter Willis said that the Chemical Laptop is designed to able to differentiate between biological and natural versions of organic compounds.

JPL researcher Fernanda Mora stated that the device is a chemical analyzer that can be reprogrammed like a laptop to perform different functions. The tool has different apps for different analysis like amino acids and fatty acids.

The Chemical Laptop needs a liquid sample to perform the analysis, which makes it difficult to obtain samples on dry planetary body such as Mars.

However, the tool is able to obtain sample from the dry material by mixing it the with liquid water and heating the mixture to above 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The water extracted from the mixture then carrying the organics molecules and used as a liquid sample.

When the water sample introduced into the Chemical Laptop, it will be mixed with a fluorescent dye that attaches to the amino acids and fatty acids. These organic compounds will then be separated and the fluorescent dye will be detected by laser.

NASA's researchers have been working to improve the sensitivity of the Chemical Laptop so it can detect the smaller amounts of organic compounds. Currently, the device can detect amino acids and fatty acids in concentrations as low as parts per trillion.

The researchers will perform a field test to the Chemical Laptop in the Atacama Desert in Chile after the initial test in JPL's Mars Yard last year.

NASA expects this Chemical tool to be able to perform biological materials detection in icy planets such as Enceladus and Europa. According to Mashable, scientists have long-thought that Europa could harbor microbial life. The tool would just need a little melted ice from the planet to detect life signs.