http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101003/discovery-of-goldilocks-planet-raises-question-is-water-enough-for-life/page2.html
The Christian Post Sun, Oct. 03 2010 10:31 PM
The biggest issue noted in this article is the overriding question: Can life begin anywhere water is? Steven Vogt claims that the planet he has found (Gliese 581g) with a full team of astronomers definitely has tiny bacteria living on it due to the fact that water is found. There is some definite skepticism because there is no way to actually tell whether there is bacteria living because the planet in actuality is 120 trillion miles away.
This article appears to have no bias because it argues for both sides of the arguments. One being that life begins through divine interactions and the other being that it exists over time with no fine tuning necessary. The article talks about how their are scientists who believe water is the only necessity and others who believe there are over 300 minimal requirements for life to begin.
VII. Global Change
II. The Living World
I agree that water is probably not enough for life to begin, and that scientists should never claim information as fact unless it is possible to prove. Our planet is unique in that everything happened perfectly and several factors enabled life to exist, not just water. So if another planet has living organisms, it probably has many common factors, including but not limited to water.
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I do not believe that only water is enough for life to begin, but because water was discovered on Gliese 581g, there is a possibility bacteria or other forms of life inhabit the planet because water is a natural resource in the Earth's environment that enables life to exist. Our environment is full of enabling factors that allowed for life to exist here, possibly over 300 requirements.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that life begins solely with water, but I do think that scientists know what they are doing when they study the planet, no matter how far away it is. While it is possible that there are many small requirements for life, if scientists can prove that life evolves from only water, then it is true. However, if these scientists have not proved it, then we can not assume that it is true only because they have studied it.
ReplyDeleteThe Author of this article obviously has no idea what he is talking about. No serious scientist has ever claimed that life can begin solely with water. Would that not imply that life would just spontaneously appear in a blob of pure water? Stating that this is even an argument is ridiculous. Likewise, it is likely that life can exist without liquid water. many theoretical astrobiologists have suggested that liquid methane, as well as other solvents, could be used by organisms on waterless planets. I would also like to note that the "Astrophysicist" consulted, Dr. Dr. Jeffrey Zweerink, while a legitimate astrophysicist, is employed by the Christian ministry Reasons to Believe, and is not an expert in planetary sciences or astrobiology. He, along with this articles source, The Christian Post, are incredibly biased sources, going so far as to even suggest that Intelligent Design is a legitimate "model" for the origins of life, which even Reasons to Believe's website repudiates. Zweerink does raise several legitimate points, notably Gliese 581g's tidal locking and probable lack of a magnetic field, as well as its position around a violent red dwarf star. I also agree that it was out of line for Dr. Steven Vogt, the discovery team's leader, to claim that "...the chances of life on this planet are 100%. I have almost no doubt about it." Although he does begin the quote by stating "I'm not a biologist, nor do I want to play one on TV. Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of life to flourish wherever it can, I would say that, my own personal feeling is that...". I would also like to point out that no spectroscopy tests have been done on Gliese 581g, and as such, water has not been shown to exist on the planet. Were spectroscopic analysis to be done, the presence of Oxygen gas, and even more so Ozone gas, will be much more efficient indicators of life that water. In short, the author of this article is incredibly biased and knows little about the subject, as well as putting forward an argument with no backing, especially as water has never been detected on Gliese 581g, but has been on many planets and moons, astroids, and comets in our own Solar System, as well as in interstellar space, a fact which is completely ignored in this article.
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