Who thinks that if there is another life out there, on another planet, it doesn't have to be based on H2O?

Question

And look similar to what we have seen, like having eyes and brains. Don't you think that when we think about aliens, we think of Hollywood movies and base our opinions strictly on what we see and know, while we know only a little or nothing about the universe.
For example, why can't there be a life on some very hot planet, and instead of blood, the would have melted aluminum running through their veins?

Answer 1

Water is needed as the universal solvent and hydration material throughout the universe. Without water, there would be no medium for which reactions could occur, or which could cool organisms. water is necessary for all living things. Even air isn't needed by some anaerobic organisms.

Answer 2

It is hard to say--there are microorganisms that can live at extreme temperatures, but they still require water. My best guess is that some form of gas phase life would be possible, since gases achieve better mixing than solids, and also molecular motion is enhanced. On large planets such as Jupiter, molecules that exist in gas phase on Earth are layered in liquid phases on and above the planet's "surface." If solid-phase life existed, there would have to be a fast method of conduction and appropriate metabolic reactions occuring as a result of that conduction. It is hard to visualize, really. In any case, the system would have to be capable of complex organization and situated in a matrix that is stable enough to allow the development of complex evolved structures.

Oh yes, if a planet was hot enough to posit molten aluminum running through a lifeform's veins, the lifeform would have to be composed of something that could contain this substance without breaking down, perhaps an insulating molecule or higher-melting metal or complex. And what molecules could run through a river of molten aluminum and support life? I could only guess it would be a form of electrical conduction...

Ah, why do I answer questions like this? Because they're more fun than working, I suppose! In answer to your question, they would most likely NOT look like us. The vast difference in materials requirements and method of organization into sentience or viable living organism would necessitate a different structural setup.

Answer 3

I agree. We know very little of what the universe offers... there HAS to be life on other planets! With everything so big and vast, there have got to be other planets with similar conditions to Earth's, where life could evolve just as it did here.

And if those populations didn't need water - so be it!

Answer 4

I believe in other life. Someone had to make the crop circles.