From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Fri May 02 2008 - 11:38:37 PDT
Non-Carbon Species: Will We Overlook Extra-terrestrial Life?
A Galaxy Classic
Carbon is great molecular glue—there’s not doubt about it. Just add water
and you’ve got life. Well, maybe it’s not quite that simple, but carbon and
water do seem to be a winning combo, at least on planet Earth. That may be
why we’ve been limiting ourselves in our search for . The carbon/water combo
has worked so well for our own conditions, that we simply can’t imagine
anything else supporting life.
Currently, our search for extra-terrestrial life forms has been focused on
planets similar to ours. The perplexing idea exists, however, that what
would be death to us on Earth, may be life to other beings. What we’re
looking for may not lie in our version of the “sweet spot”.
It is definitely worth considering that other options do exist besides water
and carbon. Alternative biochemists speculate that there are several atoms
and solvents that could potentially spawn life. It is also worth considering
that because humans are carbon-based beings, who do their lab work under
conditions on planet Earth, we may be a bit biased towards carbon thinking.
Full article here:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/05/non-carbon-life.html
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