It has been said that life could develop on Earth only because Earth is just the right distance from the sun. Any closer, and it would be too hot; any farther away, too cold. Recently, communities of organisms have been found in deep-sea vents. These communities seem to get all their energy from the vents, rather than the sun. Even more recently, bacterial communities have been found deep inside subsurface rock. How do these discoveries inform consideration of whether life might exist on other planets or moons?

Question

Charlee Wise

Biology

23 April, 22:34

It has been said that life could develop on Earth only because Earth is just the right distance from the sun. Any closer, and it would be too hot; any farther away, too cold. Recently, communities of organisms have been found in deep-sea vents. These communities seem to get all their energy from the vents, rather than the sun. Even more recently, bacterial communities have been found deep inside subsurface rock. How do these discoveries inform consideration of whether life might exist on other planets or moons?

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Answers (1)

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Benjamin Case · Answer 1

The correct answer will be - the planets and moon also exhibit hydrothermal vents, volcanoes and rocks.

Explanation:

Scientists have always tried to understand and explain the origin of life on Earth and predicted that life on earth originated as a result of the conditions created by the distance of the Earth from the Sun.

Later discoveries found that life exists even in the harsh conditions on Earth-like hydrothermal vents and inside sub-surface of the rocks. This shows that life can exist in extreme conditions.

Since the planets other than Earth posses such hydrothermal vents, rocks and volcanoes, therefore scientists predict that life could be found on other planets.