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Carbon Chauvinism
Carbon chauvinism is a neologism meant to disparage the assumption that the chemical processes of hypothetical extraterrestrial life must be constructed primarily from carbon (organic compounds) because as far as we know, carbon's chemical and thermodynamic properties render it far superior to all other elements at forming molecules used in living organisms. Concept The term was used as early as 1973, when scientist Carl Sagan described it and other human chauvinisms that limit imagination of possible extraterrestrial life. It suggests that human beings, as carbon-based life forms who have never encountered any life that has evolved outside the Earth's environment, may find it difficult to envision radically different biochemistries. Carbon alternatives Like carbon, silicon can form four stable bonds with itself and other elements, and long chemical chains known as silane polymers, which are very similar to the hydrocarbons essential to life on Earth. Silicon is more reactive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glassy Carbon And A 1cm3 Graphite Cube HP68-79
Glassy is an adjective meaning, of or resembling glass. Glassy may also mean: * Amorphous metal, Glassy, amorphous metal * Glassy (single album), ''Glassy'', a 2021 single album, or the title song by Jo Yu-ri * Glassy phase, amorphous solid * Glassy water, amorphous ice * Glassy carbon, carbon with a shiny surface * Glassy surface, a smooth surface See also * Sea glass * SeaGlass Carousel * Glass (other) {{disambig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silabenzene
A silabenzene is a heteroaromatic compound containing one or more silicon atoms instead of carbon atoms in benzene. A single substitution gives silabenzene proper; additional substitutions give a disilabenzene (3 theoretical isomers), trisilabenzene (3 isomers), etc. Silabenzenes have been the targets of many theoretical and synthetic studies by organic chemists interested in the question of whether analogs of benzene with Group IV elements heavier than carbon, e.g., silabenzene, stannabenzene and germabenzene—so-called "heavy benzenes"—exhibit aromaticity. Although several heteroaromatic compounds bearing nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms have been known since the early stages of organic chemistry, silabenzene had been considered to be a transient, un-isolable compound and was detected only in low-temperature matrices or as its Diels-Alder adduct for a long time. In recent years, however, a kinetically stabilized silabenzene and other heavy aromatic compounds with silicon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Hypotheses
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary information encoded in genes, which can be transmitted to future generations. Another major theme is evolution, which explains the unity and diversity of life. Energy processing is also important to life as it allows organisms to move, grow, and reproduce. Finally, all organisms are able to regulate their own internal environments. Biologists are able to study life at multiple levels of organization, from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and evolution of populations.Based on definition from: Hence, there are multiple subdisciplines within biology, each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use. Like other scientists, biologists use the scientific meth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extraterrestrial Life
Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might range from simple forms like prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humankind. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology. Speculation about the possibility of inhabited "worlds" outside the planet Earth dates back to antiquity. Multiple early Christian writers discussed the idea of a "plurality of worlds" as proposed by earlier thinkers such as Democritus; Augustine references Epicurus's idea of innumerable worlds "throughout the boundless immensity of space" (originally expressed in his Letter to Herodotus) in ''The City of God''. In his first century p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrobiology
Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investigates the deterministic conditions and contingent events with which life arises, distributes, and evolves in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, astronomy, physical cosmology, exoplanetology, geology, paleontology, and ichnology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from that on Earth. The origin and early evolution of life is an inseparable part of the discipline of astrobiology. Astrobiology concerns itself with interpretation of existing scientific data, and although speculation is entertained to give context, astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scientific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shadow Biosphere
A shadow biosphere is a hypothetical microbial biosphere of Earth that would use radically different biochemical and molecular processes from that of currently known life. Although life on Earth is relatively well studied, if a shadow biosphere exists it may still remain unnoticed, because the exploration of the microbial world targets primarily the biochemistry of the macro-organisms. The hypothesis It has been proposed that the early Earth hosted multiple origins of life, some of which produced chemical variations on life as we know it."Life on Earth… but not as we know it" Robin McKie, 14 April 2013, The Guardian Steven A. Benner, Alonso Ricardo, and Matthew A. Carrigan, biochemists at the |
Planetary Chauvinism
Planetary chauvinism is a term to describe a commonly held belief that human society will always be planet-based (even if extended beyond Earth), and overlooks or ignores the potential benefits of space-based living. It's thought to be coined by Isaac Asimov, though in an interview with Bill Boggs, Asimov mentions that he heard it from Carl Sagan. The counter-argument is that all the benefits of a planet can be achieved in space, usually by an O'Neill cylinder-type structure. See also * Anthropocentrism * Carbon chauvinism Carbon chauvinism is a neologism meant to disparage the assumption that the chemical processes of hypothetical extraterrestrial life must be constructed primarily from carbon (organic compounds) because as far as we know, carbon's chemical and t ... * Chauvinism * Particle chauvinism * Surface chauvinism and surfacism References Space colonization Chauvinism Isaac Asimov {{Space-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Particle Chauvinism
Particle chauvinism is the term used by British astrophysicist Martin Rees to describe the (allegedly erroneous) assumption that what we think of as normal matter – atoms, quarks, electrons, etc. (excluding dark matter or other matter) – is the basis of matter in the universe, rather than a rare phenomenon. Dominance of dark matter With the growing recognition in the late 20th century of the presence of dark matter in the universe, ordinary baryonic matter has come to be seen as something of a cosmic afterthought. As John D. Barrow put it, "This would be the final Copernican twist in our status in the material universe. Not only are we not at the center of the universe: we are not even made of the predominant form of matter." The 21st century saw the share of baryonic matter in the total energy of the universe downgraded further, to perhaps as low as 1%, further extending what has been called the demise of particle chauvinism, before being revised up to some 5% of the conte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbon-based Life
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Carbon-based may refer to: * Biology * based on Carbon * Carbon-based life * Carbon chauvinism Carbon chauvinism is a neologism meant to disparage the assumption that the chemical processes of hypothetical extraterrestrial life must be constructed primarily from carbon (organic compounds) because as far as we know, carbon's chemical and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism (; ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. From an anthropocentric perspective, humankind is seen as separate from nature and superior to it, and other entities (animals, plants, minerals, etc.) are viewed as resources for humans to use. Anthropocentrism interprets or regards the world in terms of human values and experiences. It is considered to be profoundly embedded in many modern human cultures and conscious acts. It is a major concept in the field of environmental ethics and environmental philosophy, where it is often considered to be the root cause of problems created by human action within the ecosphere. However, many proponents of anthropocentrism state that this is not necessarily the case: they argue that a sound long-term view acknowledges that the global environment mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abiogenesis
In biology, abiogenesis (from a- 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis 'origin') or the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities on Earth was not a single event, but an evolutionary process of increasing complexity that involved the formation of a habitable planet, the prebiotic synthesis of organic molecules, molecular self-replication, self-assembly, autocatalysis, and the emergence of cell membranes. Many proposals have been made for different stages of the process. The study of abiogenesis aims to determine how pre-life chemical reactions gave rise to life under conditions strikingly different from those on Earth today. It primarily uses tools from biology and chemistry, with more recent approaches attempting a synthesis of many sciences. Life functions through the specialized chemistry of carbon and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Cairns-Smith
Alexander Graham Cairns-Smith FRSE (24 November 1931 – 26 August 2016) was an organic chemist and molecular biologist at the University of Glasgow. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he gained a Ph.D. in Chemistry (1957). He was most famous for his controversial 1985 book ''Seven Clues to the Origin of Life''. The book popularized a hypothesis he began to develop in the mid-1960s—that self-replication of clay crystals in solution might provide a simple intermediate step between biologically inert matter and organic life. He inspired other ideas about chemical evolution, including the Miller–Urey experiment and the RNA World, all of which are hypotheses that have played important roles in attempts to understand the origin of life. Cairns-Smith also published on the evolution of consciousness, in ''Evolving the Mind'' (1996), favoring a role for quantum mechanics in human thought. He died on 26 August 2016. Clay hypothesis The clay hypothesis suggests how biol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
