Biodiversity on Some Alien Planets May Dwarf That of Earth

Kepler-62f. Image courtesy of NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech.



Joel Kontinen

It seems that we don't have optimum ocean-circulation patterns on Earth.

"Earth's dazzling biodiversity may not be so remarkable in the cosmic scheme of things, a new study suggests.

Alien planets with more favourable ocean-circulation patterns might support life in even greater abundance and variety than our own world does, the study determined.

"Life in Earth's oceans depends on upwelling (upward flow), which returns nutrients from the dark depths of the ocean to the sunlit portions of the ocean where photosynthetic life lives," study leader Stephanie Olson, of the University of Chicago, said in a statement."

However, we do not know the state of affair on exoplanets. We do not know, for instance, if a planet's contains phosphorus, without which which we would not have RNA , DNA, and our ATP, and thus we would not have life. And also if it contains all ingredients that make life necessary.



Source:

Wall, Mike. Biodiversity on Some Alien Planets May Dwarf That of Earth. Space.com. (23.8.).