A deep thought regarding life out there

Kellicus · #1 April 1st, 2001, 01:56 AM

Well, I am no chemist, but I think that if there were chemicals in the atmosphere that WOULD react with each other, they would before some hapless alien lifeform lit a match.
Also, I was thinking that fire might not be a requirement for intelligence. But I have to change my son's diaper and can't get into it right now.

Deathstalker · #2 April 1st, 2001, 02:00 AM

Kellicus, speaking of chemicals reacting with the atmosphere.......sounds like you just might be dealing with a methane world yourself right now..

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"The Empress took your name away," said Chance.
Owen smiled coldly. "It wasn't hers to take. I'm a Deathstalker until I die. And we never forget a slight or an enemy." -Owen Deathstalker.

Atrocities · #3 April 1st, 2001, 02:04 AM

Well there goes my big bang theriory.

Husky65 · #4 April 1st, 2001, 02:55 AM

You seem to be ignoring the fact that we were intelligent before we started using fire.

Alpha Kodiak · #5 April 1st, 2001, 03:53 AM

It seems to me that on a methane or hydrogen atmosphere world, an oxygen source would essentially be the "fuel" for the fire, so your cigarette lighter would contain some sort of oxygen producer to allow a flame. As to percentages of gasses in the atmosphere, remember that the largest component of our atmosphere is actually nitrogen, which is inert. On a methane world, chances are that any quantity of oxygen, or any other reactive gas would already have been "burned" into a non-reactive compound. I realize that I am using terms loosely from a pure chemistry standpoint, but you get the idea.

capnq · #6 April 1st, 2001, 05:28 AM

Current theory is that life has to evolve on a planet before it can get a substantial oxygen component in the atmosphere. Oxygen reacts with just about everything, so you need life forms to pump it into the atmosphere faster than it can all combine into other compounds. Oxygen breathing life didn't appear until the first blue-green algaes supplied the oxygen.

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Cap'n Q

Lucanos · #7 April 2nd, 2001, 02:17 AM

Intelligence - or awareness/consciousness as in "knowledge of reality" is overestimated when speaking of terrans (trying to be as objective as possible).

The terrans think that the "invention" of firemaking (rather a discovery than an invention) is something to be proud of.

On a methane world the lifeforms would probably not need to make fire and would consider it pointless.

But that doesn't mean that they would be inferior in their knowledge of reality.