Quick poll. Do you believe in life outside of our solar system?

[Gingerbread Demon]

Life on Earth is even stranger than that - if you know where to look:

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That is fascinating. Will watch the full thing tomorrow, watched a bit of it.

 

[publiusr]

Sad if true
https://www.space.com/milky-way-alien-life-map

I'm no chemist, but from what I've read about silicon-based life (including on that page): Silicon was selected because it behaves (chemically speaking) in a lot of ways similar to carbon, including how it interacts with oxygen. Where a carbon-based lifeform would assimilate oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide, a silicon-based lifeform might assimilate oxygen and excrete silicon dioxide.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Except silicon dioxide is ROCK. That should give you some idea of the similarities and differences.

Here is where a radiation filled world might actually be helpful. We think Brownian motion plays a role in biology. Silicon life forms may need a bit of a kick to work with ammonia.

I can see this life-form being synthesized by us and deposited on a pulsar planet.

On page 16 of the recent SCI-AM, there is the concept of living wires called pili.

Now, they want them grown by e. chili, but that worries me, since you could perhaps get power out of the very air.

Better to use radiodurans. Some plants can help with nitrogen...

Speaking of silicon dioxide, on molecule of that weighs about as much as a molecule of carbon disulfide (CS) right. If there is a way to knock one into the other, it might be nice to see a rocket full of liquid tear gas have sparkling sand as an exhaust