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Can life go on even in extreme environments? Should we bring bacteria to mars?
maximumstillness
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Can life go on even in extreme environments? Yes but only a few.
Should we just bring earth bacteria to mars and see if it can survive?
Is this an advanced idea?
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I think it's good to distinguish it as "life as we know it" because there very well could be beings out there somewhere that don't use oxygen and don't rely on water and so on for life. We can't limit life to our definitions on our planet alone.
No. It's 'general Banter'.
The 'Advanced ideas' forum is for in-depth discussion on aspects of the Buddha's teachings too complex for the 'Buddhism for Beginners' forum.
Carry on.
We probably have taken some contaminants to Mars on the Mars Rovers and associated paraphernalia - if it survived space it may well survive on Mars, especially if there is a little niche environment, with enough water to enable chemical reactions to occur.
Missions to Mars do their best to remove any bacteria or life forms to prevent any possible contamination of the Martian environment.
To the broader question, I think we should be careful about our impact on other worlds. Think about the issue we have with invasive species just on this world. What if another place we visit does have life and some Earth bacteria gets loose and destroys the alien eco(exo?)system.
Also there is a tiny creature called a Tardigrade or Water Bear that can survive in all kinds of crazy situations from being frozen to no food or water for 10 years, boiling water, massive doses of radiation and the vacuum of space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade
@karasti, actually the chemistry of carbon and water is special. I'm not saying there can't be any other life, for example robots might be considered life in not too long.
But carbon branches in four directions and can form double and triple bonds to get even more variety. And also aromatic rings. There are molecules in the electron transport chain (ETC) that are shaped like gears on the molecular level. The ETC is how oxygen makes energy for the body.
Water is a liquid at high temperature (boiling) and for that reason it is found in the body as a solvent. Water bonds with molecules and its self.
I realize that, I meant only that I think in saying we need to look for other intelligent life on planets quite similar to ours is short sighted. Such as planets that are much much drier than ours, might be quite more conducive to life because of other differences on that planet, whereas we would say it wouldn't be possible because there is too little water, or the wrong balance of atmospheric elements, and so on. Looking for the things we know is a good place to start, but as has been said by some of those in astrobiology and related fields, the number of places we so far can find that meet our criteria are incredibly small, so we have to open up to the possibility there are life forms that live in ways we cannot conceive of.
If it's possible to isolate the earth life brought to mars then I think it would be viable. It certainly would answer the question "is there life out there"
hahaha, there's a treaty to not contaminate mars with earth life.. russia planned to bring earth life to a mar's moon but it was unsuccessful