Reading: Top scientist says we’ll find aliens by 2075 — and predicts what they’ll look like

Top scientist says we’ll find aliens by 2075 — and predicts what they’ll look like

Last updated: 2025/12/29 at 9:28 AM

News Room Published 29 December 2025

Humans have been on the hunt to find extraterrestrial life for decades, and yet it doesn’t feel like we’re coming close anytime soon. However, one of Britain’s top space scientists has said she is ‘absolutely convinced’ there are aliens out there, and they will be found within the next 50 years. Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock said she expects a ‘positive detection’ of life on another planet by 2075. (Picture: Shutterstock / adike)

Undated handout photo issued by Mattel of British scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, a British space scientist, Barbie has honoured the scientist with a one-of-a-kind doll in her likeness in celebration of both International Women's Day and British Science Week. Issue date: Tuesday March 7, 2023. PA Photo. Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, a black British female scientist best known for presenting BBC One's The Sky at Night, is a 'Barbie Role Model' and has been recognised for her achievements in making space and science accessible to young girls. Her doll features a starry dress and comes with a telescope accessory, a nod to Dr Aderin-Pocock's work with the James Webb telescope. See PA story SOCIAL Barbie. Photo credit should read: Mattel/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. — Dame Aderin-Pocock, who is from University College London’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said that while it could be something very primitive, it’s also possible we could encounter a presence that has technology ‘far superior’ to ours. She spoke to Daily Mail about her prediction ahead of giving the Royal Institution Christmas lectures, which will air at the end of this month. (Picture: PA)

She said: ‘In the whole of the universe there are approximately 200 billion galaxies. And so although certain conditions were in place for life to start here on Earth, and this is the only example we have of life, I’m absolutely convinced that there’s life out there, because with so many stars, so many planets, why would it just occur here?’ (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock attends the inaugural Global Space Awards at The Natural History Museum on December 05, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Global Space Awards) — A theory in 1961 argued that there is a high probability life must exist somewhere else due to the sheer number of planets in the universe. This is known as the Drake equation, and this is why Dame Aderin-Pocock believes that we are not alone. She explained that just in our galaxy – the Milky Way – there are 300 billion stars. ‘Each of those stars is a sun like our sun,’ she said, ‘and now we’re detecting planets going around those stars.’ (Picture: Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Global Space Awards)

She said that we are already getting ‘tantalising glimpses’ of possible life from some of these planets, such as exoplanet K2–18b, which is 124 light-years from Earth. Earlier this year, scientists detected molecules in the planet’s atmosphere that can only exist if there is some form of life, and this finding has been said to be the most promising sign of life yet outside our solar system, with experts claiming the distant world is likely covered by an ocean and ‘teeming’ with living organisms. (Picture: Getty Images)

Dame Aderin-Pocock said: ‘I think that’s where the challenge lies – concrete evidence. But to put my money where my mouth is, in terms of getting a positive detection, I would definitely say in the next 50 years.’ But what does she think the aliens will look like? She told the Daily Mail: ‘Grey sludge is probably the most likely thing we’re going to find. We might find something that does evolve and that can communicate – and of course, their technology might be far superior to ours.’ (Picture: Getty)

But if we do find something, Dame Aderin-Pocock warned that we will have to be ‘incredibly careful’ about how we handle it, she warned. ‘If there is any form of life, we need to make sure it is totally isolated,’ she said. ‘It cannot come into contact with any sort of human presence. But we’re building facilities to do just that so we can analyse them. Because it’s hard to take all our scientific equipment to Mars, for example, but if we can bring samples from Mars to Earth and analyse them here on Earth, we can get a lot more understanding. Of course, the ultimate solution is to send me. Some people retire and potter around their garden, and my retirement plan is to potter around Mars.’ (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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