Is water necessary for lives?

A ship wrecked at sea, a group of people lost in the desert, the only water these people can earn is . their own urine. And sometimes desperate people have to drink that unpleasant water to satisfy their thirst. In many cases, they survived. We often think that urine only helps satisfy thirst in a false way, in fact it almost makes no sense to existence. But perhaps this view needs to be reviewed.

Is fresh water irreplaceable in life? It can be replaced with other liquids, such as urine. Studies in this area are bringing us to a completely different explanation of life on earth and in the vast universe. Maybe life will appear and exist in places where there is absolutely no water!

Water can be replaced by . ammonia!

In 1962, a man named Robert Grossman existed in the desert without drinking a single drop of water. This story has been reported in detail by New Yorker magazine. Also from Robert Grossman's story, scientists have been interested in studying whether humans and other organisms can survive in a water-free environment.

Will people find a substitute for water for life?(Photo: 3dchem)

Three types of elements are closely related to life, but without one, life will immediately end. The first is carbon , the element considered the foundation of life. Not only present in most human organs, carbon also creates a complete anatomical framework so that other organs can be properly placed and joined together to form a complete body. According to statistics, 93% of the body's carbon comes from nature, we can absorb carbon through other elements like oxygen, hydrogen or helium.

The second factor is proteins and DNA . Although this factor only accounts for an extremely small amount of body, they are indispensable in the optimization process of other organs.

The last and most important element is water , which is indispensable for life. People can fast for a few weeks, but if they lack water for a few days they will die. But the truth is, how does water play a role in life?

The first thing to confirm: water is not a nutrient at all. It should not be mistaken for a person to die from a lack of water, which means he lacks nutrients. Water only plays the role of an element that can create an environment for nutrients to be converted into energy that supplies the living body. Imagine, sugar molecules are a major source of energy, but they exist independently, going through a period of " hovering " in the living space inside the body, meeting and bonding. Together, thanks to intermediate molecules - often referred to by the name of enzymes - they are converted into energy. Water is the only element in the body that can create an environment that qualifies for these activities.

But recently published studies show that it is not only the country that does this task. Some other elements that exist in liquid form can also replace water, including ammonia, alcohol, etc. According to the researchers, acidulphuric variants will replace the water to create a more suitable environment. nutrient dissolution has a role in maintaining life.

One of the scientists who spent a lot of effort to study this field was Douglas Clark, an engineer at the University of California. After years of research, Clark discovered that by modern technology, humans can extract enzymes from industrial liquids such as acetone, diethyl, toluene, and hexane. The amount of enzyme Clark extracts from these substances is nearly equal to the amount of normal enzyme in the water. If Clark's experiments were to continue and succeed, a great shock would take place in thinking: life could appear and exist in a completely water-free condition. And variations of sulfuric acid on Mars are the most notable subjects in the study of extraterrestrial life.

Is there life on Mars?

Is the country not a base on Mars and other planets?(Photo: mpch-mainz)

Viking 1 and 2 are two human spacecraft that used to land on Mars's surface and conduct life test experiments there. Viking 1 was launched in 1976, and Viking 2 also landed on Mars a few months later. Although the results are still quite controversial, scientists say that these results may give us hope that there are living things that exist on Mars.

By means of carbon 14, the two ships have obtained a small amount of carbon isotopes on the samples of Martian soil and also detect bacteria that exist on the surface of Mars. According to Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a researcher at the University of Washington, these bacteria can only survive by taking energy from the compound between hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) and water. Explaining why Earth's bacteria are 'unaware' of how to synthesize, Schulze-Makuch thinks that hydrogen peroxide on Mars is not the same as it does when it exists on Earth.

Although the Viking ship's findings are very positive for the possibility of survival on Mars, there is still much controversy about this discovery. Some argue that the bacteria found are simply derived from the ship itself.

Disaster from DNA

The problems of the Viking ship, though not highly consensus from scientists, are still more easily solved than the problems arising from studies of DNA variation. We know that water is an element that does not dissolve fat, whether at any temperature, pressure or other special conditions, the molecules of water and fat still exist completely independently of each other. This helps to keep the DNA strands from sticking and its structure remains the same after energy conversion.

But for elements that exist in other liquids, they are completely different. Alcohol, Etan and other elements are capable of dissolving fat at different levels. While involved in the metabolism, DNA sequences are easily adiped into fat because they are not protected by the water wall. And the structure of these adipose DNA chains will definitely change. The result of this change is the mutation in genes that we often encounter in life. If this problem cannot be solved, the possibility of a completely separate life from the water environment will be a question without a complete answer.

Tuan Dung