However, a new study published in Astrobiology submits a new premise for life in the vacuum of space, one which subvert previous notions about how living organisms might develop.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00When looking for life out in the cosmos, astronomers first look for a rocky world like Earth, one
00:09with water, and other necessities for life as we know it.
00:12However, a new study published in Astrobiology submits a new premise for life in the vacuum
00:17of space, one which subverts previous notions about how living organisms might develop.
00:22The paper posits that in lieu of a planet, organisms might create their own self-sustaining
00:26habitats independently, with the researchers challenging the notion that life requires
00:31the presence of planetary gravity wells to stabilize liquid water and regulate surface
00:35temperature.
00:36They outline how biologically generated barriers capable of maintaining pressure, temperature,
00:41and able to block the deadly UV rays of a star could exist, adding that creatures that
00:45might live on these non-planetary worlds must modify or adapt to its environment enough
00:50to surmount these challenges.
00:51That's something that already happens on Earth in areas that would be deemed uninhabitable
00:55by most flora or fauna.
00:57They add that maintaining a certain pressure within a self-sustaining biosphere to maintain
01:01liquid water would also be key.
01:03They point to certain seaweeds on Earth that are capable of sustaining internal float nodules
01:07by releasing CO2.
01:08They add that creatures on Earth have independently achieved most of the abilities that would
01:12be needed to sustain one of these biospheres, meaning that evolutionary pathways outside
01:17of traditionally habitable planets may be possible.
01:25NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology