Searching for Life in Stranger Seas

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• William Bains
• Tuesday 18 February 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Chemistry Dept, Unilever Lecture Theatre and Zoom.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Megan Brown.

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With a planet teaming with life all around us, it is tempting to think that any life on other worlds must be like Earth life. But is that true, and if it is not, what limits can we place on where we might look for life on other worlds? Starting from the still-controversial possibility of the presence of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, I will discuss what we know (not much) can model (some) and speculate about how the chemistry of life might work on other worlds under conditions very different from Earth. In particular, different atmospheres give different chemistries, possibly chemistries that use solvents other than water as their base. Alternative solvents open up the possibility of life on many bodies previously considered uninhabitable, such as the clouds of Venus, the surface of Mars, even the Moon. I will end with some thoughts on complex, even intelligent, life and where we might find it.

This talk is part of the Centre for Atmospheric Science seminars, Chemistry Dept. series.

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