According to Well Known physicist Brian Cox, lien life may be lurking underneath Pluto's crust. This statement of Brian Cox came after the historic flyby of the dwarf planet by New Horizons, which exposed massive glaciers and mountains made of water ice.
These structures indicate the possibility of underground seas on the dwarf planet warm enough for organic chemistry to flourish, said Cox. Brian Cox told the Times:
“The probe 'showed you that there may well be a subsurface ocean on Pluto. This means - if our understanding of life on Earth is even slightly correct - that you could have living things there.”
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Principal investigator of New Horizons mission, Alan Stern, at the time of Pluto’s flyby said that the mountains are likely built of water ice. Stern said:
“The bedrock that makes those mountains must be made of H2O, water ice. We see water ice on Pluto for the first time. We can be very sure that the water is there in great abundance.”
Researchers have so far only seen five per cent of the data taken by New Horizon spacecraft, and more data is due to be issued this weekend. Though, it's unlikely to tell researchers about whether warm water is present on Pluto. Researchers consider the best way to find this out is to look at alike planets that are nearby to Earth.
Brain Cox said:
“It's not as accessible, unfortunately, as Europa [a satellite of Jupiter] or some of Saturn's moons. Titan looks as though it's got a subsurface ocean now, and Enceladus throws liquid into space, so you can fly through that and see if it's got organics in it.”
Cox, however, has cautioned against getting too eager about finding other living things in our own galaxy.
He told The Times:
“What science is telling us now is that complex life is probably rare. We're physically insignificant and yet probably very valuable”