I just reread Dogs in Elk. Fucking hilarious. I sort of miss Table Talk.

It narrows down the targets for search. Since we already know that like can exist within our parameters, we look for places that match up with us, increasing our chances of finding life.

Actually I understand why we focus on Earth-like because that could lead to us-like. Though I think that if we can't communicate with a cuttlefish, actual aliens won't be any easier. But my main issh is that the science I read and watch seems to posit that life and evolution only could get going in Earth-like worlds. That could be a translation between actual science and Nova though. I mean there are ice worms and critters who live near black smokers and use no sunlight, I think it might be possible for other places to surprise us. If life exists beyond us, I think the possibilities are actually endless. Which is so cool.

Actually I understand why we focus on Earth-like because that could lead to us-like.

I think that's PR. The biologists I've read don't think that us-like is probable. We're very much a product of chance. It was one of the central points of TAM, since it was dealing with space. They were talking mostly about aquatic life, and how it evolved/lived when the earth was young and nightmarish (to us). It wasn't that they were saying things can only live in an environment that is familiar to us, it's just that since we know life can live in an environment familiar to us, let's focus on planets that are hospitable in a way we know.

It's kind of like they were saying, "it's not that it's impossible that you put your keys in the refrigerator last night, it's just not the first place you'd look for them in the morning...they're likely on the sidetable where you set the mail down when you walked in the door, so look for them there first before checking through the weirder places."

I think that's PR

And good PR because it can get the general population's interest for at least a moment.

I'm just fascinated by the possibilities of where life has developed, what it is like and even what can be defined as life. And I want a visible supernova. You know, girl stuff.

I will return with more weird shit I've read about science, like, "why is our blood red?" tomorrow

Ooh! I know this one! Hemoglobin! Right?

I ate latkes, and they were delicious! But there were not enough of them. Though I suppose I didn't really NEED more, the deliciousness prompted me wanting more.

Also, I have been on a medication for two days which they told me might cause me to lose my appetite a bit. And I think that I am TOTALLY suggestible, and that for weight loss I should totally be given a sugar pill and told it will make me less hungry. Because two days in, I really doubt it's actually doing much yet, but I totally am eating less! Or at least, stopping before I'm stuffed.

Ooh! I know this one! Hemoglobin! Right?

Hee, yep! (That was basically my reaction too. I KNOW THIS. [It's a UNIX system!])

Actually I understand why we focus on Earth-like because that could lead to us-like. Though I think that if we can't communicate with a cuttlefish, actual aliens won't be any easier.

But I bet the Earth-like aliens won't be able to communicate with *their* cuttlefish, either. So at least we'll have that in common, and we can bond over that.

Yeah, watch us discover aliens and be unable to talk to them...but the dolphins can. Or worse, the dolphins can talk to their squid...

It all could have gone so wrong. Our primate cousins scare the bejeesus out of me. Especially when their gaze is fixed right on the camera. It's like they're saying, "you guys are such fucking jerks."

I'd be cautious but not overly worried. The gorilla body language in that whole sequence is very nonthreatening. A gorilla, a silverback especially, is certainly strong enough to do major damage, but they really aren't terribly aggressive. I'd be more nervous around chimps.

The other thing I wonder is why we always define the parameters of Places Life Can Exist based on just what we're used to seeing here.

I've often wondered about this too. From what I understand, there are significant reasons why water is really that special. I think it's just possible methane could play a similar role in a different ecosystem, but on the whole, water is hard to replace.

Ooh! I know this one! Hemoglobin! Right?

There's a lizard in Papua New Guinea with green blood. The pigment colours its muscles and tongue and other stuff too. It's a bile pigment, from the breakdown of haemoglobin; in this lizard, the pigment gets retained (and as I understand it, makes it taste pretty foul, which is probably the point).

There are a number of invertebrates, such as the horseshoe crab and most molluscs (including squid), with blue blood. Their blood carries oxygen bound with copper instead of iron (cslled haemocyanin).