Theories on why Venus and Mars aren't inhabited by similar life forms?

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by julius, Mar 23, 2014.

Moderators: 6

Moderators

  1. BrianFromWA
  2. Chris Craig
  3. Darkwebs
  4. Ed O
  5. PtldPlatypus
  6. SlyPokerDog
Page 3 of 4
  1. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2008
    Messages:
    94,103
    Likes Received:
    57,271
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I really wish we could visit Mars just to look around. If there really was water on Mars at one time, there had to be some kind of life, right?
     
    Natebishop3, Mar 26, 2014
    #41
  2. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2009
    Messages:
    59,328
    Likes Received:
    5,588
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Cracking fools in the skull
    Location:
    Lancaster, California
    100% accurate. There is a challenge though. Fossils aren't from the carbon counterparts. It's the residual of non organic components, like bones etc. So let's say only bacteria or single cell life existed, it would be hard to discover since there are no non organic complex parts to those organisms.

    But if there are little green men that walked around, then they could be discovered through fossilization.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2014
    magnifier661, Mar 26, 2014
    #42
  3. Cryptkeeper

    Cryptkeeper Forum Bourgeoisie Staff Member Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2006
    Messages:
    841
    Likes Received:
    48
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Occupation:
    S2 Hurrdurrator
    Location:
    SportsTwo
    I didn't mean that. I'm using humanity as an example. I know there are microscopic life forms that are able to live elsewhere, but i had thought we were discussing life forms similar to humanity.
     
    Cryptkeeper, Mar 26, 2014
    #43
  4. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    30,672
    Likes Received:
    8,852
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired, while you work!
    1 out of 8. Based on our only experience. Our solar system has 8 planets. 1/8 doesn't back up religion's saying, what a coincidence that Earth has conditions which are nearly impossible to attain.

    Not 1000. More like 15 million. Out of 93 million miles, which is the Sun to Earth distance.
     
    jlprk, Mar 26, 2014
    #44
  5. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    May 24, 2007
    Messages:
    72,978
    Likes Received:
    10,673
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Never lost a case
    Location:
    Boston Legal
    Even Earth isn't that hospitable, really. The reason we grow old and die is because our cells are damaged by radiation, and over time our bodies can't keep up with repairing the damage.
     
    Denny Crane, Mar 26, 2014
    #45
  6. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2009
    Messages:
    59,328
    Likes Received:
    5,588
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Cracking fools in the skull
    Location:
    Lancaster, California
    Interesting... So if we found a way to block all radiation, we could live forever?
     
    magnifier661, Mar 26, 2014
    #46
  7. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    May 24, 2007
    Messages:
    72,978
    Likes Received:
    10,673
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Never lost a case
    Location:
    Boston Legal
    Or how to get our cells to repair the damage faster.

    The thing is the radiation actually fucks up our DNA, too. I'm not sure how easy it is to repair that.
     
    Denny Crane, Mar 26, 2014
    #47
  8. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2008
    Messages:
    32,870
    Likes Received:
    291
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Tualatin, OR
    Why would there have to be? Perhaps life on Mars evolved to thrive on ammonia, or iron, or wasn't even carbon-based. Evolutionary theory is a very narrow view on how life applies to the rest of the universe. On earth, oxygen and hydrogen were needed. Why would that be the same on another planet? If living organisms evolved from inorganic elements and/or substances, couldn't a completely different form of life have evolved in other environments that are nothing like what is found on earth?
     
    PapaG, Mar 26, 2014
    #48
  9. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2009
    Messages:
    59,328
    Likes Received:
    5,588
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Cracking fools in the skull
    Location:
    Lancaster, California
    Yeah the information in a single DNA has more information than a super computer. And like any type of program, a slight change can wreck the lot.

    It's a curious option nonetheless
     
    magnifier661, Mar 26, 2014
    #49
  10. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    May 24, 2007
    Messages:
    72,978
    Likes Received:
    10,673
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Never lost a case
    Location:
    Boston Legal
    Denny Crane, Mar 26, 2014
    #50
  11. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2008
    Messages:
    32,870
    Likes Received:
    291
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Tualatin, OR
    Oh, a wiki link. :MARIS61:

    I'm still wondering why so many seem to think that "life" can only exist in the conditions in which ours exists on Earth. That seems almost "God-like," IMO, in thinking that life here is the template, and other planets need conditions such as Earth's in order to see organic life.
     
    PapaG, Mar 26, 2014
    #51
  12. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2008
    Messages:
    94,103
    Likes Received:
    57,271
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    So many organisms live in water though. Hell, much of the human body is made up of water. I'm just saying, if there was water on Mars, it would lead me to believe that there was probably some kind of life.
     
    Natebishop3, Mar 26, 2014
    #52
  13. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Messages:
    68,362
    Likes Received:
    67,432
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Neither planet has enough nightlife to sustain a population for long. Small market planets at best. There could very well be life there that our earthly senses are just unable to comprehend.
     
    riverman, Mar 27, 2014
    #53
  14. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2009
    Messages:
    16,060
    Likes Received:
    4,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Tualatin
    As far as we know, this is the only way life can work. So everything else is very speculative. (Which seems against your staunch agnostic nature. Not pointing fingers, I just find it interesting.)
     
    Eastoff, Mar 28, 2014
    #54
  15. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2009
    Messages:
    16,060
    Likes Received:
    4,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Tualatin
    Hey, sorry I was away for a long time. I have to actually work somedays! BOO!

    Anyway, the answer to your question is chemistry! Water is a great solvent, one of the best solvents we've found. It seems to aid in the transportation and exchange of other chemicals. It's also "easy" to break down into it's components to gain more energy. Carbon is so awesome for us because it is charge neutral, and has the maximum available bonding sites.
     
    Eastoff, Mar 28, 2014
    #55
  16. Further

    Further Guy

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2008
    Messages:
    11,099
    Likes Received:
    4,039
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Stuff doer
    Location:
    Place
    I've heard people theorize that silicon based life could also be out there, many of the same properties as carbon, but we just have never seen it.




    Also, interestingly we just discovered the smallest goldilocks planet we have found yet, and I was surprised to learn that it was still about 1.3 times the size of earth.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2014
    Further, Mar 28, 2014
    #56
  17. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    May 24, 2007
    Messages:
    72,978
    Likes Received:
    10,673
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Never lost a case
    Location:
    Boston Legal
    http://www.universetoday.com/91449/...-than-us-thoughts-on-non-carbon-astrobiology/

    Dorminey — SILICON SEEMS TO BE THE MOST POPULAR NON-CARBON BASED CANDIDATE, ARE THERE OTHERS THAT ALSO MIGHT BE FEASIBLE?

    Bernstein — It’s hard to imagine anything that would be more likely that silicon because there is nothing closer to carbon than silicon in terms of its chemistry. It’s in the right place on the periodic table, just below carbon. On the face of it, [silicon-based life] doesn’t seem too absurd since silicon, like carbon, forms four bonds. CH4 is methane and SiH4 is silane. They are analogous molecules so the basic idea is that perhaps silicon could form an entire parallel chemistry, and even life. But there are tons of problems with this idea. We don’t see a complex stable chemistry [solely] of silicon and hydrogen, as we see with carbon and hydrogen. We use hydrocarbon chains in our lipids (molecules that make up membranes), but the analogous silane chains would not be stable. Whereas carbon-oxygen bonds can be made and unmade — this goes on in our bodies all the time — this is not true for silicon. This would severely limit silicon’s life-like chemistry. Maybe you could have something silicon-based that’s sort of alive, but only in the sense that it passes on information.
     
    Denny Crane, Mar 28, 2014
    #57
    Eastoff likes this.
  18. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    30,672
    Likes Received:
    8,852
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired, while you work!
    Bullshit. Everyone here is wrong.
     
    jlprk, Mar 29, 2014
    #58
  19. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    30,672
    Likes Received:
    8,852
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired, while you work!
    Too many strip clubs. Need only a few big ones.
     
    jlprk, Mar 29, 2014
    #59
  20. BigGameDamian

    BigGameDamian Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2012
    Messages:
    33,266
    Likes Received:
    13,386
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Rebirth after death in a different life?
     
    BigGameDamian, Mar 29, 2014
    #60
Page 3 of 4

Share This Page