New Theory Suggests Life Can Emerge On Planets Without Water

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New Theory Suggests Life Can Emerge On Planets Without Water

A new theory upends this assumption by suggesting that alien life could thrive on "supercritical carbon dioxide" instead.

Carbon dioxide becomes supercritical when its temperature exceeds 305 degrees Kelvin (about 88 F) and its pressure goes beyond 72.9 the standard atmosphere (atm) at sea level (the kind of pressure you'd find a half-mile beneath the ocean surface).

Fascinatingly, the atmospheric pressure of Venus is about 90 times greater than that of the Earth, with an average temperature of 467 degrees C. About 97% of its atmosphere is carbon dioxide. It's possible, therefore, that the atmosphere of Venus is a SCF. And indeed, the researchers speculate that organic remnants of life could still be preserved in such a fluid.

Also an article in Space: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/11/16/alien-life-could-thrive-on-supercritical-co2-instead-water/

And the original research: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/4/3/331