Talk:Carbon-based life

Non-carbon based life

I'm sure I saw an article in New Scientist sometime in mid-2006 that talked a lava-filled cave system that contained fish-like life that was not carbon based.

I can't remember any details or find a reference -- though I believe the magazine issue had a cover story of "Taking the demons out of the drink" about alcohol replacements. -- RobHunter

Rob, I was the under the same impression but I have been unable to find any scientific article identifying non-carbon based life. I changed "most" to "all known naturally occurring" [lifeforms on earth] with the expectation that if such forms exist, someone will redact my changes --with a proper citation of course. -Barry Kfia

• There is a page for this topic Hypothetical types of biochemistryTelecine Guy (talk) 17:34, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Silicon

I added a bit on silicon-based life that focuses on silicon having a similar part in biology as carbon has in known lifeforms. This hypothetical biology is, I believe, what is generallly meant by 'silicon-based life' instead of computerchips. I left the computer info intact, though, as I'd like to see other opinions on this.--PoofBird 11:05, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

• There is a page for this topic Hypothetical types of biochemistryTelecine Guy (talk) 17:34, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
• This popular topic so it is addressed here. Thank you.Telecine Guy (talk) 02:20, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

Sulfur

There are in fact sulfur-based bacteria but 99.999% (a rough guess) of all life forms on Earth are Carbon-based. Wikipedia has some articles about sulfur-based bacteria, just Google 'sulfur-based bacteria'. Not_Chicken_Little 30 May 2008 0314 UTC

No sulfur-based life has been discovered. Some bacteria use sulfur as an energy source; see Sulfur-reducing bacteria and Sulfate-reducing bacteria. BatteryIncluded (talk) 23:51, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Sulfur has the wrong number of valence electrons to act as a carbon replacement. Any "sulfur-based" life with any similarity to any known life would have to use it in place of oxygen rather than carbon, and would thus have to be carbon-based or silicon-based. Jesin (talk) 02:02, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Arsenic

What about Arsenic-Based Life Forms ? http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/nasa-finds-arsenic-life-form/ 123.224.107.158 (talk) 12:22, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

The bacteria described in that article use arsenic as a substitute for phosphorus, not carbon, so they are still carbon-based. Arsenic doesn't even have the right number of valence electrons to substitute for carbon. Jesin (talk) 23:07, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

• There is a page for this topic Hypothetical types of biochemistryTelecine Guy (talk) 17:35, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

This popular topic so it is addressed here now. Arsenic is toxic to life. Thank you.Telecine Guy (talk) 02:21, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

Work on lead

Lead needs to mention that this is a theory. Otherwise I dont really see where this page is going. Thanks.--Wuerzele (talk) 20:32, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

• This is no long a theory, it was a theory in the past. Over time and with more research this is now a fact. This outlined in the "Other candidates" section. Thank you. Telecine Guy (talk) 00:12, 21 January 2024 (UTC)

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Fiction citations

I see that the 2010 part in fiction has a citation but what about the star trek episode and the x files episode mentioned? Does anyone know what to cite for that? Underlaidcomb (talk) 14:02, 24 March 2022 (UTC) Underlaidcomb 10:01 Mar 24 2022

• References added, thank you. Telecine Guy (talk) 18:33, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Water

Life is not possible without water and it's not even mentioned! AXONOV (talk) ⚑ 12:11, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

• Fixed, good point thank you! Telecine Guy (talk) 18:02, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Tag

I have fixed the missing References. I have adressed the issues posted here on the talk page. If you still have an issue please post here on the talk. If no post are added, the tag will be removed later. Thank you Telecine Guy (talk) 18:27, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

• Thank you to those that asked for refs and more info on some topics.Telecine Guy (talk) 06:34, 1 February 2024 (UTC)

Plate tectonics

'Plate tectonics are needed for life over a long time span, and carbon-based life is important in the plate tectonics process.' I don't believe that's correct, and it's certainly not supported by the reference. Anything underneath that sentence is incorrect or dubious, too. Talc is certainly not organic. 'An increase in oxygen helped plate tectonics form the first continents'? That's not what the reference states. In fact, it's the opposite. Formation of continents increased oxygen levels.Wookster1 (talk) 16:47, 23 February 2024 (UTC)