Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday
on Twitter Last week’s AWAT Why Water? took the approach of
acknowledging that while numerous solvents are available to
support alien biochemistries, water is very likely to be the
most common biological solvent out there – just on the basis of
its sheer abundance. It also has useful chemical features that
would be advantageous to alien biochemistries – particularly
where its liquid phase occurs in a warmer temperature zone than
any other solvent. We can constrain the number of possible
solutes likely to engage in biochemical activity by assuming
that life (particularly complex and potentially intelligent
life) will need structural components that are chemically stable
in solution and can sustain their structural integrity in the
face of minor environmental variations, such as changes in
temperature, pressure and acidity. Although DNA is often
discussed as a core component of life on Earth, it is
conceivable that a self-replicating biochemistry