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March 15, 2006
Ugly bags of mostly water
Daniel Engber asks why we tend to assume alien life will be made of water and silicon. As opposed to, say, methane, liquid amonia, boron or Flea-fav silicon.
The Cassini spacecraft has found evidence of what may be geysers of liquid water on a moon of Saturn, project scientists said on Thursday. "If we are right," said one of the Cassini researchers, the moon "might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms." Liquid water is generally considered one of the likely preconditions for extraterrestrial life, along with sources of heat and organic materials. But why are we so sure water is crucial for the development of life?
Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 15, 2006 10:44 AM
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