A characteristic hallmark of life is its homochirality: all biomolecules are usually of one hand, e.g. on Earth life uses only L-amino acids for protein synthesis and not their D mirror images. It is therefore suggested that a search for extra-terrestrial life can be approached as a Search for Extra-Terrestrial Homochirality (SETH). A novel miniaturized space polarimeter, called the SETH Cigar, is described which could he used to detect optical rotation as the homochiral signature of life on other planets. Moving parts are avoided by replacing the normal rotating polarizer by multiple fixed polarizers at different angles as in the eye of the bee. It is believed that homochirality will be found in the subsurface layers on Mars as a relic of extinct life.

中文翻译：

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同手性是生命的标志：SETH雪茄

生命的一个特征标志是它的同手性：所有生物分子通常都是一只手，例如在地球上，生命只使用 L-氨基酸进行蛋白质合成，而不是它们的 D 镜像。因此，建议可以将寻找地外生命视为寻找地外同手性（SETH）。描述了一种称为 SETH 雪茄的新型微型空间旋光仪，他可以用它来检测作为其他行星上生命的同手性特征的旋光。通过用多个不同角度的固定偏光器替换正常的旋转偏光器，就像蜜蜂的眼睛一样，避免了移动部件。据信，作为灭绝生命的遗迹，在火星的地下层会发现同手性。