Science Forums 2

[Boerseun]

If you look at the crazy mix of life on Earth, from gut-infesting flatworms to Third-World dictators (same species) to jellyfish to self-illuminating deep-sea organisms, all the way up to homo sapiens sapiens, I don't think we'll meet any extraterrestrial species any stranger than those currently living on Earth. A squid is pretty weird. Period.

Whether they'll be H2O dependent is another matter completely. As far as I can see, they need some usable solvent system to keep them going. On Earth, water is the key. But then again, Earth is a water planet. Life on gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn have been conjectured to be the likes of gigantic gas-filled bags floating, foraging and hunting in the dense atmosphere. That'll probably be ammonia-based.

I honestly don't know - but I think we're using water at the temperatures we do because that's the prevalent conditions found on Earth.