Lead
Our search for extraterrestrial life is generally based on the assumption of carbon-based life, but carbon-based life is only a small part of life in our world, so there are also many scholars who believe that extraterrestrial life is not necessarily carbon-based life, but may be silicon-based life.
The silicon-based life in the legend is very different from the aliens in the movie, and it seems to us that it is not even a life, but a crystal.
So what's the difference between silicon-based life and carbon-based life?
Will silicon-based life really exist?
What will it look like?
What kind of planet will it appear on?
What is the difference between silicon-based and carbon-based life?
1. Planets where silicon-based life exists.
Silicon-based life is different from carbon-based life, so where can silicon-based life be produced?
Silicon-based life generally occurs in other galaxies, rather than in solar systems, which have a scarce carbon element.
The production of silicon-based life requires a relatively abundant element, that is, silicon.
Therefore, such planets capable of producing silicon-based life are generally not very young, because in the Big Bang, there is basically no silicon in the smooth primordial matter, but carbon, and only at the end of the life cycle of the star, it will gradually collide to form heavier elements, in which silicon can be produced.
Based on this, the planets that can produce silicon-based life are generally not inner planets or moons like Earth, but on outer planets or white dwarf stars where a star has completed its life cycle.
In recent years, a star called LHS 1140 has attracted the attention of scientists, this star is not far from the Earth, it is not far from the star of Aldebaran, but our solar system is only one of the star systems, and there will be interstellar matter and galaxies colliding with each other to form new star systems.
LHS 1140 appears around a similar star system, LHS 1140, and it is likely that such an ancient star has completed its life cycle.
The star LHS 1140 is also thought to have been not far from the "Eve Star" in the past, and there may have been a huge collision between the two stars, resulting in the formation of many fragments.
Many planets have been born, and most of these planets in LHS 1140 are ironstone planets, and this star has more iron than the sun, so there is a high probability of silicon-based life.
In addition, there are some planets capable of silicon-based life that have also been discovered by astronomers from the solar system, such as Mars, Venus, Titan, Ti
These planets and moons are made up of a fraction of debris, a large part of which contains silicon, but most of them are uninhabitable planets for life.
Because the emergence of silicon-based life requires high temperatures and pressures, otherwise silicon-based life and crystals will quickly turn into lava in the environment of the emergence of life on Earth, and at low temperatures, silicon-based life will become crystals that are particularly common on white dwarf stars - white quartz.
In addition, none of these stars in the solar system exist in liquid water, and silicon-based life cannot exist without liquid water, because silicon-based life cannot exist without liquid water.
Liquid water has a temperature range of 0-100 degrees Celsius, which is also the temperature range for carbon-based life, while silicon-based life has a wider temperature range, from 0-4000 degrees Celsius.
When it exceeds 4,000 degrees Celsius, the crystals will turn into lava, so the planets produced by silicon-based life are generally planets after Mars, of course, these planets only pay for the material produced by silicon-based life, and it is unknown whether the matter can produce independent silicon-based life.
2. Comparison with life on Earth.
There are also many silicon elements and silicoids on the earth, just like carbon and carbonates, silicon and silicide have their own production pathways, and silicide is produced by the geodetic reaction of silicon and metal elements and their compounds in the earth's crust.
Minerals containing silica are common, such as silica, silica, skarn, aluminosilicate and siliceous shale.
A large proportion of these minerals contain silicon, but silicides are not only minerals, but also large quantities of glass and carbonates that contain silicon.
Silicon-based life may be a rare species in the universe, and it is also a rare species on Earth, and since a large part of silicon-based life is crystalline in addition to minerals and glass, silicon-based life may be a crystalline life.
Both crystals and minerals are the most common things on earth and are both formed from elements and compounds, minerals are mostly formed from multiple elements or compounds, whereas crystals are formed from a single element or compound.
This is also a huge difference between silicon-based life and carbon-based life on Earth, the crystalline life in silicon-based life will be small, its environment can be solid, liquid or gaseous, and the aliens shown in the movie are generally crystals in crystalline life.
In addition, carbon-based life is inseparable from a large amount of carbon, while silicon-based life needs to be relatively rich in silicon, and if there is no abundant silicon, then life cannot survive in it.
It is the dependence of silicon-based life on matter, and when it lacks silicon, it actively helps the life cycle to obtain silicon.
Since the crystalline life between carbon-based and silicon-based life is mainly too small to observe, astronomers' current search for extraterrestrial life is based on life on Earth, which is convenient for communication and understanding.
In addition, although silicon-based life is quite different in morphology, its function is very similar to that of carbon-based life, especially in the process of space exploration.
3. Advantages of silicon-based life.
Silicon-based life has great advantages in space exploration, first of all, it can move at a temperature of 0-4000 degrees Celsius, and this temperature range is inactive for carbon-based life.
This way, the spaceship where silicon-based life is located does not need to consume a lot of energy to maintain the temperature it is in, and it also maximizes the efficiency of energy consumption.
In addition, the space radiation encountered in space exploration is not a big problem for silicon-based life, because silicon-based life needs silicon-containing substances to produce, and these silicon-containing substances have a good blocking effect on space radiation.
Although silicon-based life has a wider range of adaptation, it also has its own weaknesses, because the brain is the main control center of silicon-based life, and the properties of silicon and carbon are quite different, which makes it difficult for silicon-based and carbon-based life to communicate with each other.
In addition, silicon-based life will also be subject to some interference in the process of communicating with carbon-based life, so when silicon-based life is explored in space, strictly speaking, silicon-based life does not have more advantages than carbon-based life.
The computers we use now are a form of silicon-based life, and there are many ways to communicate with the outside world, such as input methods, voice input, voice recognition, gesture recognition, etc.
This is the same as carbon-based life, they are just a form of life, not living creatures, and they are part of the creation of carbon-based life, but its main role is to help carbon-based life thrive.
epilogue
Exploring the possibilities of silicon-based life not only allows people to see more different extraterrestrial life, but also applies new ideas to the field of artificial intelligence and life sciences through the understanding of silicon-based life, and promotes the development of science and technology.
In future space exploration, we should also diversify our assumptions, not only limited to carbon-based life, but also consider other possible life forms, which will help advance the development of the universe and change the way we think about the universe.
As Li Yaohui said, the existence of silicon-based life will broaden people's definition of life in the universe, and may even expand human cognition of life to another realm, which will help promote human understanding of the universe.