Dec 16, 2024 05:16 PM
(This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2024 05:17 PM by C C.)
Extraterrestrial life may look nothing like life on Earth − so astrobiologists are coming up with a framework to study how complex systems evolve
https://theconversation.com/extraterrest...lve-243531
EXCERPTS: . . . In October 2024, a diverse group of scientists gathered to think outside the box on evolution. They wanted to step back and explore what sort of processes created order in the universe – biological or not – to figure out how to study the emergence of life totally unlike life on Earth.
Two researchers present argued that complex systems of chemicals or minerals, when in environments that allow some configurations to persist better than others, evolve to store larger amounts of information. As time goes by, the system will grow more diverse and complex, gaining the functions needed for survival, through a kind of natural selection.
[...] A universal theory of life is still elusive. Such a theory would include the concepts of complexity and information storage, but it would not be tied to DNA or the particular kinds of cells we find in terrestrial biology.
[...] Researchers have explored alternatives to terrestrial biochemistry. All known living organisms, from bacteria to humans, contain water, and it is a solvent that is essential for life on Earth. A solvent is a liquid medium that facilitates chemical reactions from which life could emerge. But life could potentially emerge from other solvents, too.
Astrobiologists Willam Bains and Sara Seager have explored thousands of molecules that might be associated with life. Plausible solvents include sulfuric acid, ammonia, liquid carbon dioxide and even liquid sulfur.
Alien life might not be based on carbon, which forms the backbone of all life’s essential molecules – at least here on Earth. It might not even need a planet to survive. Advanced forms of life on alien planets could be so strange that they’re unrecognizable. As astrobiologists try to detect life off Earth, they’ll need to be creative.
[...] It’s unclear how and when a first detection of life beyond Earth will happen. It might be within the solar system, or by sniffing exoplanet atmospheres, or by detecting artificial radio signals from a distant civilization. The search is a twisting road, not a straightforward path. And that’s for life as we know it – for life as we don’t know it, all bets are off... (MORE - missing details)
https://theconversation.com/extraterrest...lve-243531
EXCERPTS: . . . In October 2024, a diverse group of scientists gathered to think outside the box on evolution. They wanted to step back and explore what sort of processes created order in the universe – biological or not – to figure out how to study the emergence of life totally unlike life on Earth.
Two researchers present argued that complex systems of chemicals or minerals, when in environments that allow some configurations to persist better than others, evolve to store larger amounts of information. As time goes by, the system will grow more diverse and complex, gaining the functions needed for survival, through a kind of natural selection.
[...] A universal theory of life is still elusive. Such a theory would include the concepts of complexity and information storage, but it would not be tied to DNA or the particular kinds of cells we find in terrestrial biology.
[...] Researchers have explored alternatives to terrestrial biochemistry. All known living organisms, from bacteria to humans, contain water, and it is a solvent that is essential for life on Earth. A solvent is a liquid medium that facilitates chemical reactions from which life could emerge. But life could potentially emerge from other solvents, too.
Astrobiologists Willam Bains and Sara Seager have explored thousands of molecules that might be associated with life. Plausible solvents include sulfuric acid, ammonia, liquid carbon dioxide and even liquid sulfur.
Alien life might not be based on carbon, which forms the backbone of all life’s essential molecules – at least here on Earth. It might not even need a planet to survive. Advanced forms of life on alien planets could be so strange that they’re unrecognizable. As astrobiologists try to detect life off Earth, they’ll need to be creative.
[...] It’s unclear how and when a first detection of life beyond Earth will happen. It might be within the solar system, or by sniffing exoplanet atmospheres, or by detecting artificial radio signals from a distant civilization. The search is a twisting road, not a straightforward path. And that’s for life as we know it – for life as we don’t know it, all bets are off... (MORE - missing details)