TOP 10 PLACES TO HUNT FOR LIFE

Spin Me Right Round

When we know so little about life on the Earth, who's to say life of surprising varieties isn't everywhere in the universe? Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

1. Leave Your Carbon-based Baggage at Home

Maybe our standards are set too high in the search for extraterrestrial life in the solar system. At the end of the day, we aren't even aware of most of the life on our own small world -- so are we really in a position to speak for other planets, moons and asteroids?

If you've had any brush with science fiction, then you've probably encountered your fair share of energy- and silicon-based aliens. Obviously, life originating on another planet might differ vastly from Earth life.

In fact, the ultimate three conditions for life -- liquid water, organic chemicals and heat energy -- might be anathema to exotic organisms. Astrobiologists point out, for example, that silicon-based life might thrive in highly acidic environments. And if ammonia filled the role of water for an alien life form, it would theoretically be able to thrive under even the coldest of conditions.

"Life" may be a bigger tent than we can possibly imagine.

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