Life on Titan without Water?

[anemazoso]

Pretty cool article.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/titan-water-life-am-100323.html

Anyone ever read Stephen Baxter's "Titan"? A very fun read :thumbup:

 

[T.Neo]

This is generally known as "alternate" biochemistry; life based on compounds different from familiar terran life.

While such ethane or methane based life that could be found on the surface of Titan is indeed possible, it has several disadvantages to conventional carbon based life using water as a solvent.

While carbon life will probably predominate in the universe, it could be made up of wholly alien chemistry to our own. Reversed chirality of molecules, for example, could make alien life generally non-nutritional to us. Other molecules, mundane in their home ecosystem but alien to others, may have toxic, narcotic or even medicinal properties...

 

[natey787]

That is a very interesting article.

And I LOVE that novel! It was great! I loved everything about it (well, maybe not the feces in the spacesuit parts) but it was really entertaining! And when the crazy general tried to shoot down the Endeavour! And the president was soooo wacko! Haha.