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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 02/23/2005 : 17:11:52 [Permalink]
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I find it very interesting. Of course, it still remains to be seen.
I am reminded that there are several species of worm that inhabit glaciers. And also the Cook Mountain weta, a cricket living above the frost line that freezes each night. It's proably unlikely that such will ever be found on Mars, but it shows just how resilient life can be.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 05:06:22 [Permalink]
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If given enough time to evolve, there certainly could be similar life.
The question is, how long time did life have on Mars before it froze over?
It took 3 billion years on Earth for multicellular life to evolve. |
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"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 07:14:28 [Permalink]
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It took a surprisingly short time for life to evolve on Earth but as you pointed out Dr. Mabuse, it took a surprisingly long time for multi-cellular life to evolve. I think the symbiotic relationship between single cell creatures and bacteria (mitochondria) allowed the formation of multi-cellular life. It may be that life is relatively common in the universe but multi-cellular life is very rare. I think this was a belief held by Isaac Asimov.
A lot of 'I thinks' and suppositions in that parargraph - but what the hey.
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 07:40:27 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by furshur
It took a surprisingly short time for life to evolve on Earth but as you pointed out Dr. Mabuse, it took a surprisingly long time for multi-cellular life to evolve. I think the symbiotic relationship between single cell creatures and bacteria (mitochondria) allowed the formation of multi-cellular life. It may be that life is relatively common in the universe but multi-cellular life is very rare. I think this was a belief held by Isaac Asimov.
A lot of 'I thinks' and suppositions in that parargraph - but what the hey.
Who can say?
I think that anywhere that meets the conditions necessary for life, life of some sort will begin; then evolution will kick in. How far and where that evolution will go under given conditions, and what conditions are necessary, are the questions. But as has been demonstrated here on earth, multicellular live thrives in places that would kill us instantly; deep sea volcanic vents, for example.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2005 : 09:51:13 [Permalink]
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Well it remains to be seen for a fact that
1) Life is there
2) Life started there independently
3) Life started there and migrated here or vice versa
4) Our knowledge of life pontential is even close to total
Also we are discovering more and more places where life exists in places we previously assumed it could not link1 , link2, what is to say that multicellular life could also not develop such adapability? Frozen frog
It should be noted as well that just because it took a few billion years for multi-celled creatures to first appear, it should not be assumed that it will always take so long or that life needs to develop to a certain point before it happens. If earthly evolution ran again it might have developed sooner or not at all, we cant say. That does not mean the single celled creatures were less diverse or complex. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2005 : 14:41:48 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by furshur
It may be that life is relatively common in the universe but multi-cellular life is very rare. I think this was a belief held by Isaac Asimov.
His view was understandable. Class F stars, though they have much shorter life-span, can possibly harbour planets with bacterial life on it. The spectrum from them does not contain too much UV-light (to be dis-infective). But if 3 billion years is the norm for multi-cellular life, then they are out of luck.
Class F, G, and K (slightly cooler) together makes a substantial amount of stars that can support life. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2005 : 09:20:55 [Permalink]
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We have one planet and clearly it is not enough to make assumptions about the length of development for multicelled creatures. Asminov should know better, hell theres no saying that we will find cell like stuff in the first place...
For those in the know are all eggs initially one cell? I seem to remember hearing that... |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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