XPost: rec.arts.sf.science, rec.arts.sf.written   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   On 2018-04-29 01:18:42 +0000, Paul Colquhoun said:   
      
   > On Sat, 28 Apr 2018 18:37:50 +1200, Your Name  wrote:   
   > | On 2018-04-28 04:50:15 +0000, J. Clarke said:   
   > |> On Sat, 28 Apr 2018 14:28:53 +1200, Your Name    
   > |> wrote:   
   > |>> On 2018-04-28 02:05:53 +0000, J. Clarke said:   
   > |>>> On Fri, 27 Apr 2018 18:40:08 +1200, Your Name    
   > |>>> wrote:   
   > |>>>> On 2018-04-27 05:32:22 +0000, Thomas Koenig said:   
   > |>>>>> Your Name  schrieb:   
   > |>>>>>>   
   > |>>>>>> The real problem is that scientists are blinkered into the belief   
   that   
   > |>>>>>> life of any sort /must/ have water, which is moronically silly.   
   > |>>>>>   
   > |>>>>> Water has a range of qualities that make it suitable for complex   
   > |>>>>> molecules. There is a lot of it around, it has such low energy,   
   > |>>>>> it will be found in a reasonably pure state, it allows for   
   > |>>>>> condensation reactions with polar leaving groups, it has   
   > |>>>>> very strong hydrogen bonds, it dissolves salts...   
   > |>>>>   
   > |>>>> All true, on Earth. Many other planets and other life forms are almost   
   > |>>>> certainly completely different.   
   > |>>>   
   > |>>> Unless you are postulating that the laws of physics are different on   
   > |>>> other planets, a notion which you will need to support with something   
   > |>>> beyond opinion, it will be true on any planet.   
   > |>>   
   > |>> Oh, dear, as usual the reading-challenged fools on the internet fixate   
   > |>> on one tiny irrelevant detail rather than the actual point. Believe   
   > |>> whatever crap you want.  :-\   
   > |>   
   > |> So to you physics is "crap".   
   > |>   
   > |>    
   > |   
   > | If you want to bleieve all possible life in the universe is exactly the   
   > | same as life on Earth (same chemical makeup, same needs and   
   > | requirements, etc.), then you're simply a complete moron.   
   >   
   >   
   > If you think the 2 options are "exactly the same as life on earth" or   
   > "not based on carbon compounds" you are missing a huge middle ground.   
   >   
   > Starting right from the basics, amino acids come in right and left   
   > handed versions. Life on earth uses one, but nobody thinks the other   
   > would not work just as well.   
   >   
   > We only use 4 bases in our DNA, but there have been recent experiments   
   > that inserted another 2 in a test organism, so that is another option   
   > for life elsewhere.   
   >   
   > Here we use base triplets to encode for each amino acid in a protein,   
   > with quite a bit of redundancy in the coding. There is probably some   
   > chemistry backing the basics of the coding, but using 4-base sequences   
   > is probably possible, just less efficient.   
   >   
   > So, the basic chemical makeup will be similar, but the details will   
   > probably vary quite a lot.   
   >   
   > As to "needs and requirements", on a simple level, yes they will   
   > be the same (or very similar). Organisms will require food, energy   
   > (maybe from food, maybe from light), shelter. Or did you have something   
   > else in mind?   
      
   It's amaziong how many people have a complete and utter lack of reading   
   comprehension ability.  :-(   
      
   As I said all along: extraterrestrial life does not necessarily have to   
   need water. Looking for life *only* where water occurs is blinkered   
   stupidity.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)