Aliens to be found in 20 years, will look like humans, says top Russian scientist

Humanity wouldn't have to wait too long before encountering the aliens, says a top Russian scientist. Andrei Finkelstein, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Applied Astronomy Institute, said extra-terrestrial life can be found in two decades, according to Reuters.

The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms ... Life exists on other planets and we will find it within 20 years, Finkelstein said on Monday, speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life. He remarked that 10 percent of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth.

If water can be found outside of earth, finding life elsewhere isn't impossible, Finkelstein added.

Aliens will resemble humans in features, the scientist said, adding that they will simply have two arms, two legs and a head although they might differ from humans with respect to skin color.

Finkelstein's institute runs a program launched in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War space race to watch for and beam out radio signals to outer space.

The whole time we have been searching for extraterrestrial civilizations, we have mainly been waiting for messages from space and not the other way, he said.

Term 'extra-terrestrial life' refers to a hypothetical range of life starting from simple bacteria-like organisms to sapient beings which are far more advanced than humans. According to scientific research, celestial bodies with potential capacity to sustain life include Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Moons of Jupiter - Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, and Moons of Saturn-Titan, and Enceladus.

Failure of SETI program (Search for extraterrestrial intelligence- collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life) to announce an alien radio signal from outer space had partially dimmed hopes of humans' encounter with life forms outside earth.

Though Russian scientists haven't provided a radio signal as proof for their claims, the observation will definitely rejuvenate the dying interest in alien exploration.