Here and in Space, Only B+C will ever Equal Life.

I must admit, before moving along, that my idea came after viewing the thread

Do you think humans are aliens?

They discussed if Humans can possibly be "Alien" in nature. Then, of course, I began pondering the details of "Panspermia".

Finally, I did a search, and found no less than 7 threads concerning the "Red Rain" that fell in India. I do believe that the organic material that fell to Earth, is in fact, "alien". After being studied, the red material has only shown that it is organic, capable of reproduction and lacks DNA.

But, it is not quite the exotic substance we expected to be flitting around in the Heavens. But, what if that is all there is to it?

Maybe Life is always made up of a few possible combinations of elements, and that remains the same wherever you go.


Chances are that there IS only one, or at most, a few different types of possible "life" out there.

In other words, like other forms of matter in the universe, maybe there is only one "Life Material". Like a Compound, or Compounds.

If A=Life, perhaps only B+C can ever equal A.

It may be a Universal Constant.

And, if this is even a possibility, we will have to learn to be much more respectful to our Creationist brothers and sisters.


Thoughts?...

[edit on 6-5-2008 by SumnerKagan]

I would ask 'why?'. This is similar to the phrase 'planets capable of supporting life' which is a major pet hate of mine. I think we need to discover at least one form of extraterrestrial life before we can start making claims of what life is or isn't capable of in the universe.

Don't get me wrong, you may be right, but I personally don't think we can start making statements, claims or predictions until we have a little more information to base our analysis on.

I do wonder though what makes you think the 'chances are' that way? I would say that in a universe as big as ours, anything is possible.

A specific combination of Elements will create a specific compound.

In all of nature, to get a specific compound, there is only one formula, depicting a combining of Elements in a specific measure.

In other words, Hydrogen and Oxygen (H2O), will NEVER create Ammonia (NH3), and so on. It will always be water.

I believe that the combinations that combine to form living, organic material will remain the same throughout the cosmos.

I think it would take a location where the Laws of Physics are different, or do not apply, in order to find a different type of life from what we know already to exist.

[edit on 6-5-2008 by SumnerKagan]

---

No reason to quote the post immediately before yours, mate.

[edit on 13-5-2008 by Jbird]

Interesting OP, and I think you may be right. What I don't get (and what reinforces the Panspermia idea in my mind) is that it is not just chemical composition, L = B+C, but a VAST genetic encoding -- highly ordered information. Where did that come from? Through trial and error?

Panspermia was originally proposed by Francis Crick, the joint discoverer of DNA. He was so astounded by the detailed and perfect ordering of DNA that he could not conceive of evolution creating such a system.

Hence, Dr. Crick framed the idea of Panspermia, which I believe is the only alternative to Evolution and Intelligent Design that makes any sense. (It is somewhat different than either of these, but actually is related to both, in a strange way.)

Edit: Fix spelling, I think.

[edit on 6-5-2008 by Buck Division]

reply to post by Buck Division

---

Over the course of 14 billion years, I suppose all combinations of all things are possible. Resulting in a "wet-machine" that knows what to use in order to reproduce itself, or self replicating strands of material (DNA).

At the same time, that is ALL based on "chance".

Who knows? We may find that the perfect conditions for matter to become organic material, remain in space for some reason.

Maybe we will find that all that missing mass that scientists are looking for, is actually enormous clouds or blobs of organic material floating around in outer space.

That our universe is more "Animal" than "Mineral".

[edit on 13-5-2008 by Jbird]

...thoughts?

I was hoping for SOME feedback.

Great thread Sumner. Starred and flagged. I think your previous post says it all -- the universe might very well be more animal than mineral.

I wonder about consciousness. Do you think that, if your premise is true, the animal portions of the universe all have feelings? Can these animal aspects feel joy and pain?

That is an excellent question!
It could lead to a new theory that combines Universal Intelligence with the composition of the Universe.
If the cosmos are filled with organic life, of one sort or another, and this life can somehow communicate, (even in the simplest sense), it would be the beginnings of a great argument for a type of universal intelligence.
IF the universe is filled with organic, living material, does that make it, essentially one huge, mega-organism?