Astronomers continue in their quest to discover alien life forms in the cosmos, but naturalists suggest that they should look closer to home as there is still a host of undiscovered species lurking on our own planet.

This month a species that has defied classification for thirty years has finally been named by scientists, though they are still no further forward in determining what they are.

The weird species, described for the first time recently in the journal PLOS ONE, poses the question of how much we really know about life on this planet.
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Scientists working to replicate the harsh conditions of space, with its cold temperatures, radiation and lack of air,have managed to get artificial cell membranes to form, proving that life could have originated in space. For life toexist in cellular form, each cell must be surrounded by a protective membrane. These cells then combine together to form complex life structures.

The membranes resemble primitive cell walls. David Dreamer, a biologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz,said, “This wall is semi-permeable, so that things like water and oxygen can get in and out very easily. That is whatlife requires-it needs to have an inside that is not totally shut off from the outside.”
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