Photo/Illutration A creative rendering of an intelligent extraterrestrial creature (Provided by SETI Institute)

What does extraterrestrial life look like? Novelists and scientists throughout history have tapped into their imagination, coming up with shapes ranging from an octopus to a human-like biped.

Here's a joke I once read in a book: When a microorganism brought back from outer space was put under a microscope, it started making a strange movement. It eventually formed itself into letters of the alphabet, which read: "Take me to your leader."

This minuscule being turned out to be intelligent extraterrestrial life and it demanded to meet the earthlings’ leader.

Nonsensical as the joke is, it served as a warning for me against forming preconceived notions about any life form.

Searching for indications of life in outer space is obviously no easy task, but thinking about it always excites me.

On Feb. 18, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landed on the Red Planet, in an area believed to have once been a lake. The spacecraft will spend two years there searching for microorganic traces.

Watching video of its entry, descent and landing (EDL) on Mars, I felt as if I, too, was making a descent toward the planet's reddish-brown surface--another 300 meters, another 20, and so on.

The name Perseverance was chosen from among suggestions sent in by the public. Also on NASA's shortlist of candidates was Promise, but it was rejected in the end, perhaps because this is a challenging mission about which NASA didn't see fit to make any promises.

The theory that life exists on Mars was born out of a misunderstanding.

An Italian astronomer who observed the surface of Mars through a telescope in the 19th century described there were "canali" (Italian for "channels"). But this was mistranslated into English as "canals," which led to the speculation that if there was water, there had to be "Martians."

The existence of water on Mars has been effectively confirmed in recent years, rekindling people's enthusiasm to search for life.

No matter what sort of life is found, I would want to embrace it as a fellow member of our solar system.

Am I being a bit too impatient?

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 24

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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