Brad Guth  wrote in
news:b3iq6e$24rg$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

 
 
> "Other life NOT as we know it, at under 1% O2"
> 
> The phrase "life NOT as we know it", that alone you would think opens
> all the doors, which it does as long as those moderated doors relate
> to humans and/or of life AS we know it. I may have misunderstood this
> supposedly open policy avoids any unfortunate confusions with the sort
> of skewed science and/or skewed physics that's clearly associated with
> your typical moderated site. 
> 
> I've posted another page or two dealing with the "positive"
> considerations for sustaining life on other planets such as Venus.
> Obviously, most of us already know about what's seriously negative
> outside of Earth, seems no further input is required or need be
> applied nor implied. As for what's positive, there's lots to work
> with, especially for Venus. Just our improved understanding of the 
> atmospheric gradients of CO2/N2/O2 have much to offer, yet these
> issues alone need to be more fully understood, as well as upon what
> humans and of other known species can adapt to, especially at the
> pressures of 75+ bar, not to worry all that much about whatever
> thermal considerations because, that issue is nearly all conduction
> and, thermal conduction can effectively and efficiently be
> accommodated within available technology, especially if there's such
> an abundance of natural energy resources at hand. 
> 
> So for now, I'll go peacefully along with the following quest, as
> according to "Sci.Bio.Evolution" moderation rules:
> 
> "while evidence for or against life on Venus is problematic, let us
> suppose that life DOES exist on Venus; what form might we expect it to
> take, given the planetary conditions now and in the past?"
> 
> My Venus-atmospheric page: http://guthvenus.tripod.com/venus-air.htm
> My positive considerations: http://guthvenus.tripod.com/positive.htm
> Energy options page: http://guthvenus.tripod.com/energy-options.htm
> 
> Regards, Brad Guth / IEIS  alternate: http://geocities.com/bradguth
> 

I have absolutely no idea what form it would take, and I doubt that 
anyone who claims to  have an idea would know what they are talking 
about, other than as to some very basic questions about what kinds of 
bonds might be stable in a venusian atmosphere.  Unfortunately, what we 
can actually calculate based on chemical theory is extremely limited. We 
can only solve Schrodinger's equation for hydrogen (I thought I have 
recently read that we have progessed all the way to helium, but I could 
be wrong). We have theories that explain pieces of chemistry, but in 
general if we can't study the chemistry directly we don't know what is 
going on - and there has been little lab work under Venus-like 
conditions. And we do not yet have any verified account of how life arose 
on earth, so we have no basis to model how life would arise on Venus.

In short, you raise an interesting question that I don't think can be 
addressed given current knowledge.


Yours,

Bill Morse
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