Quote:
Originally Posted by dwnielsen
Sorry for the confusion, but wouldn't your version of life change the meaning of "organic" as only applying to carbon-based life forms? To me, "inorganic life" sounds like viruses or that thing in Andromeda Strain.
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Since the subject of discussion is the chemical basis of life, using "organic life" to mean "life based on organic chemistry" doesn't seem particularly confusing to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marsbug
Carbon and water are very good at producing life, hence earth, but that doesn't preclude other chemical systems supporting something life like, and even one example of such would change the way we look at the emergence of life. I think that makes the question of non carbon abd water life worth considering, even if it turns out to be incredibaly rare, or inherently limited to very simple forms.
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I don't think anyone has said in this thread that other systems absolutely couldn't support life or that they're not worth considering...the problem with them is that water and carbon are so common on top of being so biologically useful that it's almost certain that life will use them, so you have to look for conditions where they are less suitable...a high pressure, high temperature water world or deep hydrothermal systems where silicon based biochemistry might be more stable, for example.