Alien life may evolve from radically different elements than human life did

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Alien life may evolve from radically different elements than human life did

Radioactive metals and even certain gases may be capable of the kinds of reactions needed to spur life, new research suggests.

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Self-sustaining chemical reactions that could support biology radically different from life as we know it might exist on many different planets using a variety of elements beyond the carbon upon which Earth's life is based, a new study finds.

On Earth, life is based on organic compounds. These molecules are composed of carbon and often include other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.

However, scientists have long wondered if alien life might evolve based on significantly different chemistry. For example, researchers have long speculated that silicon might also serve as a backbone for biology.

Read More: Live Science

 

[+joc]

29 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Alien life may evolve from radically different elements than human life did

Radioactive metals and even certain gases may be capable of the kinds of reactions needed to spur life, new research suggests.

 

I always thought Silicon based life forms was just sci-fi extrapolations.  But then, I had never even heard of autocatalysis or comproportionation cycles.

Comproportionation or synproportionation is a chemical reaction where two reactants containing the same element but with different oxidation numbers, form a compound having an intermediate oxidation number. It is the opposite of disproportionation. wikipedia

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If even a relatively inert gas such as xenon could take part in autocatalysis, "there is good reason to guess that autocatalysis occurs more easily in other elements," Peng said.

 

So, we really don't have any clue whatsoever what's out there.  There could be life on Mercury even.  Intelligent life...visiting us from Mercury.  

Planets not able to sustain life...means...not able to sustain carbon based life.  

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"The cycles presented here are an array of basic recipes that can be mixed and matched in ways that haven't been tried before on our planet," Peng said. "They might lead to the discovery of completely new examples of complex chemistry that work in conditions where carbon- or even silicon-based cycles are too either combusted or frozen out."

Of course this is probably all new only to me...but that's okay.  I always loved The Next Generation star trek series...but, I always thought it was just so much sci-fi...but Q?  Basically a gas cloud life form?  This kind of changes my attitude about life in general altogether.   Jupiter and Saturn...even Venus could have various forms of life...evolving in ways that we couldn't even imagine.  Gives a whole new definition of what Alien might actually mean!

[Waspie_Dwarf]

3 minutes ago, joc said:

So, we really don't have any clue whatsoever what's out there.  There could be life on Mercury even.  Intelligent life...visiting us from Mercury.  

There is a huge difference between self-replicating molecules and intelligent life. Even simple multi-cellular organism are many magnitudes of complexity higher than what is being hypothesised here.

Single celled life appeared on Earth around 3.5 billion years ago... roughly a billion years after Earth formed. Multicellular life did not appear until 600 million years ago suggesting that the step from single to multi cellular life is a difficult one.

As for intelligent life on Mercury... nope, we've sent spacecraft there.

[Abramelin]

Some time in the future we'll have to redefine "life".