The Fermi Paradox - Why we haven't been contacted by aliens

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DaFace

A lot of it really comes down to water. Everything we know about life suggests that H2O is necessary for it to work (reacting with carbon), so at a minimum you need a planet that is somewhere between 32F and 212F.

It's theoretically possible for life to be built in a very different way (silicon is a possibility in place of carbon), but we don't even know what we'd be looking for to try and find something like that.

Hydrogen bonding is the key to life. It's why water is liquid at RT whereas other heavier compounds are not.

Silicon is unlikely. It's an interesting concept, but its weight is such that the London forces of compounds would significantly alter their makeup, and the size of the silicon atom makes it far more difficult for it to create double bonds (pi bonds), and thus, no carbonyl-type molecules, whereas carbon can form an infinite number of molecules.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Hydrogen bonding is the key to life. It's why water is liquid at RT whereas other heavier compounds are not.

Silicon is unlikely. It's an interesting concept, but its weight is such that the London forces of compounds would significantly alter their makeup, and the size of the silicon atom makes it far more difficult for it to create double bonds (pi bonds), and thus, no carbonyl-type molecules, whereas carbon can form an infinite number of molecules.

Do you know anything about Sri Lanka ?

How, like, the Sikhs are killing tons of Israelis over there ?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

Do you know anything about Sri Lanka ?

How, like, the Sikhs are killing tons of Israelis over there ?

Come on, SR, there are a lot more important problems than Sri Lanka to worry about.