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Water Found in Exoplanet's Atmosphere
anthemaniac writes "Astronomers have long suspected that water should exist in the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. Now they have evidence. Water has been discovered in a planet called HD209458b, which was previously found to have oxygen. From the article: 'The discovery ... means one of the most crucial elements for life as we know it can exist around planets orbiting other stars.' But don't go looking for little green men. You might remember HD209458b as a 'hot Jupiter' that boils under the glow of its very nearby star."
Just think of all the marine life that lives in and around the thermal vents on the sea floor... Temperature isn't much of a challenge if you're determined enough!
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thom
Of course, given the size and age of the universe, the emergence of technological civilizations can still be both miraculous and "common" by our own finite, everyday standards.
IAALS.
Actually, in areas of greater pressure (deeper under the clouds), there is still the possibility of life I would say.
Another thing is, we often make the following assumptions in terms of life forms, and we can be ceratain of none of them:
1) requirements of Carbon and Oxygen
-- Sulphur, Silicon, and any far-left or far-right non-noble element can handle the requirements here (namely something that can form long complex structures, and something highly reactive that nonetheless has stable compounds wherein it exists)
2) The life will be based on nucleic acids (RNA/DNA) and amino acids (proteins)
-- While these are more simple structures that could perform their tasks while remaining stable, there are other structures that could potentially store data and perform structural/chemical tasks.
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There are other systems of life possible, without water, so long as they meet our definitions of life. Im always suprised by this very anthropocentric ('terrapocentric'? :) approach for the requirements for life...
In Cosmos, Carl Sagan has described such beings(hypothetical beings - if you want to nitpick), consider them to be similar to large gas bags, that feed on carbon matter in the atmosphere. If you consider it that flying whales post might actually describe them pretty well also - Such creatures were used by Arthur C. Clarke in one of his oddesy series books (forget which one), he even described a predator of sorts for them, interestingly for another descrpition (although not at all based on science or facts ) there is a similar set of creatures in Dan Dare (Yes, the same Dan Dare where venusians were large green things, and you could breathe on Venus)
blog plug -> The Darker Side of Light
Perhaps we're the fortunate "Ancients" or "Progenitor" race should we ever start traveling the stars?
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
I'm a Christian, and I find your argument ad hominem, off topic, and ignorant at best. If you aren't trolling, please keep in mind that a belief in a God, although shared by crazies and extremists, does not make one any less intellectually capable, any more than being a vegetarian makes a person evil because Hitler was one.