Questions tagged [carbon-based]

For questions about lifeforms that use carbon in rings or chains as an essential component of life.

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2 votes
2 answers
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Would a carbon-based lifeform be able to emerge and live in Venus-like conditions?

I'm trying to make carbon-based alien lifeforms which live in a Venus-like world, where: The temperature is $\pu{650-750 K}$ and the pressure is $\pu{0.9-1.1 MPa}$ Sulfuric acid is abundant Because ...
4 votes
4 answers
172 views

How to cool Venusian atmosphere down?

Carbon dioxide dominates the Venusian atmosphere. While I think it is possible to use the thermal energy in the atmosphere to split carbon dioxide to carbon and oxygen, the process may be too slow to ...
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0 votes
0 answers
47 views

Could we build a global renewable energy grid? [duplicate]

I’m trying to build a post-fossil fuel world for my eco thriller. So in my head it works like this: Fossil fuel is outlawed internationally amd renewable energy is mandated; each country has a ...
2 votes
1 answer
98 views

Can a carbon planet form within a silicate-based planetary system?

Can a carbon-rich planet form in a solar system where all the other planets have a lower carbon-to-oxygen ratio (like Earth has silicates and oxides, or oxygen and silica)? (Let’s say the planet ...
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5 votes
1 answer
86 views

Is it feasible to have an oxidizing planetary atmosphere without the presence of an organic photosynthesis of some kind on the planet?

With the emergence of cyanobacteria on earth 3.5 billion years ago, the shift from a reducing to an oxidizing atmosphere began. “The atmospheric O$_\textrm{2}$ levels (in PAL; i.e., normalized to the ...
3 votes
3 answers
731 views

Would scanning solar systems/planets for carbon concentrations be a viable way to search for alien life?

Working on a story about a crew of astronauts on a mission searching for evidence of alien life, either still living or long extinct. Not a biologist or chemist, but from my elementary understanding I ...
4 votes
3 answers
144 views

How do my plants trap so much carbon?

The boom-bust cycle answer I took for my question: Sustainability of Regular Global Wildfires due to Oxygen Rich Atmosphere pends on the atmosphere being rich in oxygen but poor in CO2. I, however, ...
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7 votes
9 answers
2k views

What evidence would there be if radioactive decay changed 7,000 years ago?

I know we generally operate—or religiously operate—on the principle that fundamental things don't change over time. It's the bedrock of geology: Uniformitarianism. I also believe/have read that it is ...
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3 votes
4 answers
365 views

Can I make the carbon cycle shorter - by metamorphosis from plant to animal and vice-versa

EDITED to address the above suggestion. See below. Most animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon-dioxide. Most plants take in carbon-dioxide and release oxygen. Waste products from animals ...
5 votes
4 answers
697 views

Are kaiju more probable if they aren't carbon-based lifeforms?

I don't know the science involved, so I'm hoping someone else does. But is it more probable a giant creature of that size and capability would be more likely to exist if it were, say, a silicon-based ...
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