From: alain245@sympatico.ca   
      
   Henry Spencer wrote:   
      
   >In article ,   
   >Gordon D. Pusch  wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   >>All known life is water-based. There are practical limits to how far an   
   >>"antifreeze" can depress the freezing point of water, before it it is more   
   >>antifreeze than water. Martian night-time temperatures plummet to -140 C;   
   >>they are so cold that CO2 can freeze out of the atmosphere. Good luck   
   >>trying to find an "antifreeze" that will keep water frome freezing solid   
   >>at those temperatures. I think you will find that you will need to base   
   >>martian life on something other than water...   
   >>   
   >>   
   >   
   >Not necessarily.  There is no fundamental reason why you can't have   
   >warm-blooded plants, which use metabolic heat (and insulation) to keep   
   >their interiors warm and whose fluids thus don't have to handle the full   
   >range of ambient temperatures.  (It's marginally conceivable to use   
   >passive heat storage to the same effect, given really good insulation --   
   >biological aerogels, anyone?)   
   >   
   It might be possible, but you would need your biological aerogel to   
   allow gas exchange   
   which might reduce its insulating properties. Maybe the insulation would   
   allow gas   
   exchange only above a given temperature.   
      
   >This would, mind you, require much more radical genetic engineering than   
   >anything done to date.   
   >   
   Indeed.   
      
   Alain Fournier   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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