based upon our planetary variances?
I mean, we have vast polar icecaps, active volcanos, severe weather, earthquakes, water covers 75% of the planet.
A lot of the same things we would deem to make other planets inhospitable to our needs.
2007-05-07 08:50:48 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It largely depends upon what sort of world they evolved on. If they require an atmosphere of pure methane then undoubtedly Earth is not a place they could visit without life support.
Oxygen is a very reactive gas, and also incredibly toxic. Our own white blood cells use oxygen to kill invaders, and it will kill most anaerobic bacteria. Any species not used to an oxygen atmosphere may be horrified to find that not only do we live on a planet in which things are prone to burst into flame, but that we construct our homes from ideal fuels for such fires. Even human beings can die of oxygen toxicity.
Then again, much of what kills us is also responsible for life. I mean, we require water to live, and we emerged from the oceans, but water is downright deadly, as survivors of the tsunami in south Asia will tell you. Earthquakes and volcanoes are products of plate tectonics, but without volcanoes returning carbon to the atmosphere that entered the ocean sediment in the bodies of microscopic organisms then the planet would freeze and there would be no carbon for photosynthesis.
But the only kind of life we know and understand is our own, which is why we consider Earth-like planets to be good places to look for life. Even if we are successful, small differences in the conditions between our own and another planet may prevent exchanging organisms between the two without special protection.
2007-05-07 09:14:01 · answer #1 · answered by Bullet Magnet 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Possibly, but not because of the possibility of extreme conditions. Just because if life evolved on a completely different planet, who's to say that it would evolve in the same way that life evolved here.
For example, certain animals can only live in the extreme cold or extreme heat. Why wouldn't aliens have evolved like those animals because of the normal climate of their planet?
2007-05-07 09:00:00 · answer #2 · answered by JaniesTiredShoes 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on two things. The nature of the planet they come from. If it is a world similar to ours with respect to gravity, oxygen/nitrogen, water, and weather, then it would be.
If on the other hand they have the necessary technology to make almost any planet conform to their needs, then it doesn't matter so much what our planet is like, they can modify it.
2007-05-07 09:11:35 · answer #3 · answered by misoma5 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. I think any aliens that need water and oxygen like we do would find Earth a perfect place.
However if the alien life was based on different chemistry, they might be killed by oxygen just as we would be killed by chlorine. In that case, then yes, they would deem Earth uninhabitable.
2007-05-07 08:58:00 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Pretty soon this planet will be inhospitable to our needs.
Maybe then just right for the aliens.
Hope they do a better job of it.
2007-05-07 08:57:48 · answer #5 · answered by Lorenzo Steed 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our planet would be for planetary variances the most wanted planet... if aliens would exist or if our planet would be reachable for them.
2007-05-07 09:04:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋