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Would a species which developed on a world with no atmosphere (i.e. the moon) survive on a planet with an atmosphere, such as Earth?

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    $\begingroup$ Waaay not enough info. But probably not, it would be crushed going from vacuum to ~14.7 psi. $\endgroup$
    – Seeds
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 22:21
  • $\begingroup$ There's too much information missing, since that would depend a lot on the nature of the species. $\endgroup$
    – Masclins
    Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 10:08

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It depends on oxygen

The creatures that developed on Earth before there was oxygen were mostly killed in a photosynthesis-inflicted extinction event. The photosynthetic process releases oxygen, and so these first cyanobacteria added a new element (free oxygen O$_2$) to the atmosphere which had not been there before.

Many of the creatures that developed before this point were not equipped to deal with this highly reactive compound. Oxygen will readily react with many things; mostly notably, in fires. Cells not equipped to be immersed in an oxygen atmosphere would likely have been destroyed as the free oxygen interacted with their cell walls in redox reaction. This is more or less equivalent to being dissolved by acid.

The most likely reason a creature from a atmosphere-less world would not survive on Earth is that its biology is incompatible with our oxygen heavy atmosphere. How likely that is, I can't really say for sure, but I would guess that it is very likely that any creature from an anoxic environment would not be able to survive direct exposure to oxygen.

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  • $\begingroup$ So, then if this species were to be space-faring, they would have to colonize worlds without atmospheres, right? $\endgroup$
    – Giaxo17
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 22:20
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    $\begingroup$ @Giaxo17 Or they could wear suits. Humans can't survive on the moon naked, but we've been there, and might even colonize it one day. $\endgroup$
    – kingledion
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 22:21
  • $\begingroup$ Also, do you know what liquids are, theoretically, able to support life? $\endgroup$
    – Giaxo17
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 22:28
  • $\begingroup$ @Giaxo17 Sounds like a topic for a new question! $\endgroup$
    – kingledion
    Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 0:06

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