The Snowflake Chronicles

Life In The Universe

Research for a poem.

This reasearch is from the article Seeking Deep Space Salt Lovers found at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=96&e=3&u=/space/20050721/sc_space/seek...

Extremophiles - life forms that are found in places that were once considered in hospitable to life because of, what was considered insurmountable, physical and/or chemical, barriers to life: i.e. temperature, pH balance and/or radiation; life that lives in niches that are considered extreme.

Question: When life is found beyond earth is it the results of independent origin or are those creatures distant relatives? Are the there really any niches that can be called extreme either from an evolutionary or physical point of view?

UV radiation tolerant life forms.

Acidophily - acid lovers.

Alkilophily - base lovers.

Thermophily - heat lovers.

Halophily (halophile/halophiles)- salt lovers; must cope with osmotic pressure; everywhere on Earth: i.e. phylogenetically, physiologically, evolutionarily, & ecologically diverse group of organisms; three domains: archaea, bacteria & eukarya; are interspersed with non-halophile life forms throughout phylogenetic tree; are heterotrophs or autotrophs; others have photosynthesis abilities (pigments that harvest light) or rhodopsin (energy production); live in all environments (cold, hot, wet, dry, alkaline & neutral); aerobes, anaerobes, or facultative anaerobes; some have true cell walls & some don‘t; various methods of osmotic adaption; the only thing they have in common is they live in environments that are hypersaline.

Anaerobiosis - oxygen haters.

Geochemical extremes of salinity & desiccation aren‘t identical, but are related.

Range where organism life from distilled to salt saturated water.

Osmophily - life’s osmotic aspects at concentrations of high salt: particularly turgor pressure, cellular dehydration, & desiccation (phenomena physiologically distinct, but environmentally linked .

Life in space - nonlethal &/or survivable environments: microgravity, anhydrobiosis (vacuum desiccation).

Types of radiation that cause damage - UV radiation in short term unless protected in someway & heave ionizing radiation in long term.


Panspermia - organisms living throughout universe; may also be defined as life that begin on one planet & transplanted to another.

Article notes taken from found at space.com.