Alien lifeforms based on silicon,nitrogen or even ammonia lifeforms!

Is it possible? This has been a long speculative subject. It has been featured in many science fiction movies, books and games. It was a big subject in the movie Evolution[en.wikipedia.org...(film] deals with nitrogen-based lifeforms, staring David Duchovny who also starred in the popular X-Files episode called 'Ice [en.wikipedia.org...(The_X-Files)] that deals with a ammonia-based lifeform which a character in the series Star Wars also happens to be[starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zuckuss], along with the Star Trek episode which deals with a silicon-based lifeform[www.technovelgy.com...], among many many other examples in science fiction.

[en.wikipedia.org...]

Is it just science fiction? Could there be planets with beings surviving on not carbon, but perhaps nitrogen or silicon? Would it ever be possible to imagine what they could look like? Could we even recognize them as living beings? Could they be on many planets that we've observed and have failed to even realize? Could they be deep below the core of our own planet?

Also books like Sector General by Arthur C. Clarke, deals with a space station hospital open to all species far and wide, many different lifeforms based on silicon, nitrogen, etc arrive and think humans as very weird creatures.

Same with the book Crusade, and Host, and many others:

tvtropes.org...

Silicon based life is theoretically possible as it is in the same family of elements as carbon. Carbon is a good base as it readily bonds with a wide variety of other elements, silicon is similiar but needs higher temps to work the same.

Nitrogen wouldn't be a good element to use as it is pretty inert, although it does feature heavily in DNA and other chemicals necessary for life.

Ammonia is just a compound of Nitrogen and Hydrogen, so it is not really a choice to be a life basing chemical.

Interesting thread....... sure, why not, and perhaps lifeforms based on a crystalline structure, or elemental combinations we don't even know about.

The hydrogen bond of ammonia is somewhat tenuous, and the nitrogen kinda has a penchant for snagging a proton here and there...... ammonia and water work together to form a weak base......

I'm rambling. *smack*

What if there are lifeforms that subliminate from one state to another.... they have enough cohesiveness to stay together, but move by going from soild to gaseous......

I like this line of thinking, and I believe it could lead to parameters of testing that might tell us something about the "others". (I can't call them visitors for SURE; they might have been here before us).

Interstellar chemistry. Wow. Whomever gets to study that with physical samples is one lucky person. I would give almost anything to be able to do so*.

Thanks for this thread. Interested to see what everyone else thinks.





* but not that

I'm looking at the periodic table of elements, and my mind is just going crazy right now with the possibilities.
Granted, of course, 99% can be ruled out... OR CAN THEY.
We don't know everything (Scientists).
I'm not saying it's possible for a Plutonium based lifeform, but then again - in a galaxy or even a star system where the laws of physics could be different, it could be possible that there are life forms based on EVERYTHING in the periodic table of elements...
Just speculation, of course. It's fun to imagine! Nice thread! S&F!

Thanks, and yeah I agree the possibilities are endless. Silicon based life would be beautiful

Silicone-based lifeforms?

Did I say lifeforms? They're practically having a concert!

reply to post by impaired



Well unless some ET civilization also synthesised Plutonium we can rule that element based life form out since we completely invented it.

en.wikipedia.org...

I've been standing behind this theory for years; it wouldn't make sense for all, or even most, lifeforms to be carbon-based. Yes, this is what evolved on our planet; other planets with different conditions could very well have developed life based on different elements. I often wonder if we would recognize alien life if we found it (presuming that we haven't already, of course); how different would a life-form based on sillicone, or any other element, appear? Its biological processes would be so different from what we understand that I doubt we would consider it alive, in the traditional sense.
I think if we ever find such a life-form, the validity of its "life" will be a subject of controversy for years.

reply to post by Malfeitor


How about a multi-phased interdimensional entity that is made up of 4, 5, or 6 dimensional matter? Or an entity from a level four universe?

I feel compelled to say that this is one of those areas where we can probably find a lot of "experts" who "know" but I must say that IMHO in a nearly infinite universe the possible iterations of life are endless and unimaginable. I foresee a day when the question of "what is life" will take on whole new meaning.

Originally posted by argentus
Silicone-based lifeforms?

Did I say lifeforms? They're practically having a concert!

The hell is the star wars like hole doing in the ground?

Originally posted by jkrog08
reply to post by impaired

 

Well unless some ET civilization also synthesised Plutonium we can rule that element based life form out since we completely invented it.

en.wikipedia.org...

I knew that!! I was just checking to see if YOU knew that!

The different types of alien species in the universe is so vast it almost impossible to comprehend what they all are based from. There are almost endless amount of different and unique elements in the universe as well. There are physical, semi physical, non physical, multiple phased dimensional entities and there are types of aliens that seem even more incredible but they only seem unbelievable due to humanities currently limited perception and understanding of the universe. But in time humanity will start seeing entities they could not previously believe to exist on a sentient intelligence level.

There could be life based on elements that are not even on Earth at all!! Who knows if somewhere out there in some other start system or galaxy that there are elements that scientists have no clue about.....they are learning new things everyday, and im pretty sure the only thing that we know for sure is that we dont know CRAP!

Originally posted by PokeyJoe
There could be life based on elements that are not even on Earth at all!! Who knows if somewhere out there in some other start system or galaxy that there are elements that scientists have no clue about.....they are learning new things everyday, and im pretty sure the only thing that we know for sure is that we dont know CRAP!

And the Nail on the Head Award goes to PokeyJoe! I'm glad there are people out there like yourself that can think with an open mind. If more in the world thought the way we do, it'd be a much much better place.


[edit on 22-6-2009 by Oreyeon]

Originally posted by PokeyJoe
There could be life based on elements that are not even on Earth at all!! Who knows if somewhere out there in some other start system or galaxy that there are elements that scientists have no clue about.....they are learning new things everyday, and im pretty sure the only thing that we know for sure is that we dont know CRAP!

funny i proposed this to my science teacher and he pretty much shut me down. I said "what if there are elements we have yet to discover, out on other planets?" He responded with something along the lines of "what we have discovered so far is all that there is. Everything is made up of these elements or combinations of these. "