"Brett Aubrey"  wrote in message
news:ciqvp3$1tv3$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> "TomHendricks474"  wrote in
message
> news:cidugp$u11$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...

[snippage]

> > IMO the more we know about life, the more we will
> > see how locked in it is to certain conditions.
> > Sci-fi lets' us imagine anything as does early
> > unproven speculation. But as the origin becomes
> > deciferable, we'll find it limits what life is
> > and where it can be, much much much more than
> > most think now.
>
> Interestingly, the last few decades has taken the opposite
direction.
> Extremophiles are now found deep in the rocky mantle, high
in the atmosphere
> and around oceanic vents, where we used to assume life was
impossible.  If
> life has evolved elsewhere, I think we'll find it can
thrive in even more
> extremely diverse and "inhospitable" (from our viewpoint)
habitats than ones
> just here on this planet.  If I were a betting man and
thought that any of
> this can be proven in my lifetime, I'd even propose a
wager that whatever
> life we find will not have DNA, nor anything we'd consider
a variant, as its
> base.  Regards,  Brett.

I completely agree on all points, Brett. It may well turn
out that the primary criterion for life is the necessity for
complexity, and it may be achieved over many paths and
materials.     ...tonyC
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 9/22/04 1:39:36 PM