Can aliens live without water?

In recent years, attempts to hunt extraterrestrial life have focused on finding places with Earth-like conditions, which are thought to support life like our own. However, scientists now propose that some celestial bodies are capable of containing life "not as we know it" because they can multiply and grow without water, but on chemical substances. other.

The figure simulates an azotosome (right) next to a picture of the Titan moon moving around Saturn's orbit.(Photo: WordPress)

According to an interesting study by Cornell University experts (USA), life in the universe can exist in more places than people think for a long time. The life they raised, named azotosome, includes small organic nitrogen compounds, which can operate in liquid methane environments, at temperatures of -180 ° C.

No life on Earth has ever been recorded to survive in similar conditions. "Our study is the first detailed description of life not as we know it," said researcher James Stevenson.

Life on our planet depends on a water-absorbing crust - a puffiness or fat - containing organic matter of every cell. Since no life on Earth can survive without water, astronomers are always looking for extraterrestrial life in the habitable regions of stars, where liquid water has can exist, not too hot and not too cold.

However, if cells can rely on methane, instead of water, they can survive in much colder climates, because methane has a much lower melting point.

The hypothetical azotosome life form is made up of nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen molecules - the molecules identified all exist in the frozen seas on Saturn's Titan moon. However, azotosome also shows stability and flexibility as life on Earth.

And what's interesting is that, to create azotosome structures, scientists also envisioned that their cells could use a contract called acrylonitrile - a strong barrier to decay. Acrylonitrile is a liquid, colorless and toxic organic compound commonly used in the manufacture of acrylic and thermoplastic fibers on Earth. This substance is also present in Titan's atmosphere.

Chemical engineer, Dr. Paulette Clancy said, the next step, the team will try to simulate how these cells can behave in methane environments. This process includes how they can copy and metabolize by living cells based on methane and without oxygen.