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On Mon, 29 Apr 2024 22:03:17 -0400,
Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:On 4/29/2024 7:46 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:>On Mon, 29 Apr 2024 12:18:50 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:On 4/28/2024 11:40 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:I beg to partially differ. If we assume that all the
known elements are present in roughly the same distributions
throughout the universe, there's a good chance that
self-replicating life processes will be built using the same
elements as on planet Earth. "Carbon atoms are unique
because they can bond together to form very long, durable
chains that can have branches or rings of various sizes and
often contain thousands of carbon atoms."
<https://www.nature.com/articles/139290a0.pdf> The emergence
of life is possible with comparatively inferior elements but
the main building block will mostly likely be a stable atom
that will build the strongest and move versatile bonds to
other atoms.Agreed. I confess to low talent for chemistry. But I've not
yet heard of a detailed proposal for a chemistry of life
built on anything but carbon.
>
If someone here has such a proposal, I'd happily run it by
the chemists in our family.
Did you search for "silicon based life"? There is quite a bit
on the possible existence of Silicon based life:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=possibility+of+silicon+based+life>
I've read about the possibilities of silicon for decades now,
but I've never seen details on exactly how it would form the
hugely complex molecules necessary for life, let alone
self-replicate them.
Those are the details I'd like to run by the chemists I know.
Most of the articles I find on quick search say silicon based
life _may_ be possible, but is highly unlikely.
My initial impression was that silicon could possibly substitute
for oxygen given it's immediately adjacent to carbon in the same
periodic table family--but that perhaps steric effects could be a
barrier (due to silicon's relatively larger size, with a 3rd
valence electron shell).
>
However, this relatively recent article...
>
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/6/84
>
...titled "On the Potential of Silicon as a Building Block for
Life" makes a reasonable case of it being improbable--at least in
settings with water present (due to favored formation of silicas).
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