For example liquid methane, liquid hydrogen, or any other liquid that requires a different temperature than water?
2007-01-06 16:04:54 · 11 answers · asked by AngryHippy 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
P.S. I'm thinking more along the lines of extraterrestial life, I know liquid water is essential for life as we know it, but couldn't elements possibly combine into something that fits the scientific definition of "living" in some other kind of liquid as well?
2007-01-06 16:16:01 · update #1
We haven't found anything in any liquids other than water on this planet, YET. However, life has been found in some very extreme conditions, boiling water, water with a high sulphuric content, extreme cold in the polar regions, etc. Here are some examples:
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/xtremelife/life_on_earth.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile
Who knows where some of those organisms originated? Possibly from a particle of dust that made it to earth and survived.
2007-01-06 16:18:57 · answer #1 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nobody knows. Water has some important properties which are essential to earthly life, but we have no data on whether other liquids, with different properties, would do the job.
2007-01-06 16:23:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Somewhere I heard a theory that life might be able to form with silicon in place of carbon and either ammonia or ammonium (I don't remember which) in place of water. I know they talked about this on Star Trek once, but I also saw it in a legitimate science book. I think it was a book by Carl Sagan, but I don't remember the title.
2007-01-06 17:07:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
most likely...life was probably started by random combination of elements, which formed working cells, so i'm sure that it's possible for elements to randomly combine in other liquids, and be able to form working cells, just cells that work differently than marine cells
2007-01-06 16:09:41 · answer #4 · answered by lazerybyl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course, there is a maggot that lives off of oil. I don't know about those, they are very cold...
2007-01-06 16:13:25 · answer #5 · answered by chazzer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my life began to evolve in a batch of beer
2007-01-06 16:12:27 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Anything is possible. But it is not very likely to happen.
2007-01-06 16:11:28 · answer #7 · answered by billythekid3300 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
abnormal life forms yes
2007-01-06 16:08:22 · answer #8 · answered by Jessica R 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no one is going to be able to give you a definitive answer on this, the best you will get is "it's possible"
2007-01-06 17:33:26 · answer #9 · answered by Nick F 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are bacteria that thrive in crude oil.
2007-01-06 16:12:00 · answer #10 · answered by AK 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋