5 ms·

To quote the oft-quoted quote "Life finds a way". As we eventually explore more planets, I am sure we will expand what we consider life.

twiceinawhile 6y ago
Wasn't it just a few years ago they found microbes underwater where there wasn't any sunlight? The thinking back then was that all life was directly or indirectly dependent on sunlight. I believe they even found life in some kind of acid. The extremes where we thought life was impossible, we eventually found life.
- _Microft 6y ago
  If you are interested in this, you might want to start looking here [0]. The general term for lifeforms in such extreme environments is "extremophiles". The different classes of extremes have own names though, for example "Acidophiles" for life in acidic environments. There is a list of them in the article. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    > The different classes of extremes have own names though, for example "Acidophiles" for life in acidic environments. This bothered me, since "acidophile" is transparently a hybrid compound with one Latin and one Greek root. So I looked up what the Greek root for acid would be. Turns out it's oxy-, and oxygen was erroneously named for its essential (and completely fictional) role in the formation of acids. Acidophiles should properly be termed oxyphiles... except that everyone would get the wrong idea. This fails to explain how acidophilus bacteria got their name, though.
- ricree 6y ago
  >Wasn't it just a few years ago they found microbes underwater where there wasn't any sunlight? It sounds like you're talking about the life around hydrothermal vents[0], which ultimately depends on chemosynthesis[1]rather than photosynthesis. This has been known since the late 70s, and actually fuels significant macroscopic life[2], not just microorganisms. There's also deepwater life surviving off of things like marine snow[3], which is nutrient carrying detrius from the surface, or whale falls. But both of those ultimately depend on photosynthesis that happens near the surface. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Biology_of_hydrothermal_vents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Biology_of_h... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis [2]See giant tube worm, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow
interestica 6y ago
Perseverance might confirm past life on Mars for us. Well, it might pull up the samples that a future mission might use to determine if life once lived on Mars. But we are getting closer.
- inter_netuser 6y ago
  Let's hope we don't encounter life on Mars, one pandemic per lifetime will suffice, thank you.
  - doggodaddo78 6y ago
    You're conflating life as hosts and parasites. Most parasites require co-evolution with hosts. In the case of pandemic viruses, none existing anywhere else in the universe have the slightest chance of infecting us because there is absolutely nothing evolved exactly like us anywhere else.
    - castratikron 6y ago
      Or a Martian microbe might just eat through any Earthly thing unable to fight back. Gray goo
      - mozey 6y ago
        Mars... no, obviously that would have to be "red goo"
        neuronic 6y ago
        So it's incorporating large amounts of iron into its system? Take out the magnets and mess that thing up.
    - inter_netuser 6y ago
      Astronauts are routinely quarantined: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_quarantine_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_quarantine_facility
hinkley 6y ago
I’ve been trying to picture what sort of things we could do on Mars to give Life a gentle shove toward finding a way. I recently heard (here, I think) that turtles are adapted to hypoxia, and started picturing turtles in valleys on Mars. Eking out an existence when the barometer is high, hunkering down when it’s low.

twiceinawhile 6y ago

Wasn't it just a few years ago they found microbes underwater where there wasn't any sunlight? The thinking back then was that all life was directly or indirectly dependent on sunlight. I believe they even found life in some kind of acid. The extremes where we thought life was impossible, we eventually found life.

_Microft 6y ago
If you are interested in this, you might want to start looking here [0]. The general term for lifeforms in such extreme environments is "extremophiles". The different classes of extremes have own names though, for example "Acidophiles" for life in acidic environments. There is a list of them in the article. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > The different classes of extremes have own names though, for example "Acidophiles" for life in acidic environments. This bothered me, since "acidophile" is transparently a hybrid compound with one Latin and one Greek root. So I looked up what the Greek root for acid would be. Turns out it's oxy-, and oxygen was erroneously named for its essential (and completely fictional) role in the formation of acids. Acidophiles should properly be termed oxyphiles... except that everyone would get the wrong idea. This fails to explain how acidophilus bacteria got their name, though.
ricree 6y ago
>Wasn't it just a few years ago they found microbes underwater where there wasn't any sunlight? It sounds like you're talking about the life around hydrothermal vents[0], which ultimately depends on chemosynthesis[1]rather than photosynthesis. This has been known since the late 70s, and actually fuels significant macroscopic life[2], not just microorganisms. There's also deepwater life surviving off of things like marine snow[3], which is nutrient carrying detrius from the surface, or whale falls. But both of those ultimately depend on photosynthesis that happens near the surface. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Biology_of_hydrothermal_vents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Biology_of_h... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis [2]See giant tube worm, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow

interestica 6y ago

Perseverance might confirm past life on Mars for us. Well, it might pull up the samples that a future mission might use to determine if life once lived on Mars. But we are getting closer.

inter_netuser 6y ago
Let's hope we don't encounter life on Mars, one pandemic per lifetime will suffice, thank you.
- doggodaddo78 6y ago
  You're conflating life as hosts and parasites. Most parasites require co-evolution with hosts. In the case of pandemic viruses, none existing anywhere else in the universe have the slightest chance of infecting us because there is absolutely nothing evolved exactly like us anywhere else.
  - castratikron 6y ago
    Or a Martian microbe might just eat through any Earthly thing unable to fight back. Gray goo
    - mozey 6y ago
      Mars... no, obviously that would have to be "red goo"
      - neuronic 6y ago
        So it's incorporating large amounts of iron into its system? Take out the magnets and mess that thing up.
  - inter_netuser 6y ago
    Astronauts are routinely quarantined: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_quarantine_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_quarantine_facility

hinkley 6y ago

I’ve been trying to picture what sort of things we could do on Mars to give Life a gentle shove toward finding a way. I recently heard (here, I think) that turtles are adapted to hypoxia, and started picturing turtles in valleys on Mars. Eking out an existence when the barometer is high, hunkering down when it’s low.