3 ms·
One of the things we're trying to figure out is how likely life is to form on an Earth-like planet. Of course it happened here, but we have no idea how common i
by ramshorns 7y ago
One of the things we're trying to figure out is how likely life is to form on an Earth-like planet. Of course it happened here, but we have no idea how common it is.
If we do the chemistry and figure out the mechanism and it looks like it happens all the time, then that tells us one more term in the Drake equation and gives us a reason to go check out the exoplanets.
- hinkley 7y agoI don’t disagree that having tighter bounds for the Drake equation is worth investing time and energy into. I think we are going to find that the preconditions for life are quite common. The way solar fusion and supernovas work, what atoms are produced, The distribution of material and of those atoms within an accretion ring... if a planet forms at the right distance, then it will have the mix of chemical precursors. Honestly I suspect the only thing that makes Earth rare is our freakishly large moon. If we can ever prove that life is viable on a timescale of eons on a planet without such huge tidal forces pumping the biosphere, that will be a revelation.
- goldenkey 7y agoSo the moon stirred the biosoup in a way only an earthmoon sized moon could? And then life formed?