Talk:Carbon-based life

message: I'm sure I saw an article in New Scientist sometime in mid-2006 that talked a lava-filled cave system that contained fish-like life that was not carbon based.
I can't remember any details or find a reference -- though I believe the magazine issue had a cover story of "Taking the demons out of the drink" about alcohol replacements. -- RobHunter
Rob, I was the under the same impression but I have been unable to find any scientific article identifying non-carbon based life.  I changed "most" to "all known naturally occurring" [lifeforms on earth] with the expectation that if such forms exist, someone will redact my changes --with a proper citation of course. -Barry Kfia
*There is a page for this topic Hypothetical types of biochemistryTelecine Guy (talk) 17:34, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Non-carbon based life

message: I added a bit on silicon-based life that focuses on silicon having a similar part in biology as carbon has in known lifeforms. This hypothetical biology is, I believe, what is generallly meant by 'silicon-based life' instead of computerchips.
I left the computer info intact, though, as I'd like to see other opinions on this.--PoofBird 11:05, 20 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Silicon

message: There are in fact sulfur-based bacteria but 99.999% (a rough guess) of all life forms on Earth are Carbon-based.  Wikipedia has some articles about sulfur-based bacteria, just Google 'sulfur-based bacteria'. Not_Chicken_Little 30 May 2008 0314 UTC
: No sulfur-based life has been discovered. Some bacteria use sulfur as an energy source; see Sulfur-reducing bacteria and Sulfate-reducing bacteria. BatteryIncluded (talk) 23:51, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Sulfur has the wrong number of valence electrons to act as a carbon replacement. Any "sulfur-based" life with any similarity to any known life would have to use it in place of oxygen rather than carbon, and would thus have to be carbon-based or silicon-based. Jesin (talk) 02:02, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Sulfur

message: What about Arsenic-Based Life Forms ? http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/nasa-finds-arsenic-life-form/ 123.224.107.158 (talk) 12:22, 16 July 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: The bacteria described in that article use arsenic as a substitute for phosphorus, not carbon, so they are still carbon-based. Arsenic doesn't even have the right number of valence electrons to substitute for carbon. Jesin (talk) 23:07, 6 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Arsenic

message: Lead needs to mention that this is a theory. Otherwise I dont really see where this page is going. Thanks.--Wuerzele (talk) 20:32, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Work on lead 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I see that the 2010 part in fiction has a citation but what about the star trek episode and the x files episode mentioned? Does anyone know what to cite for that? Underlaidcomb (talk) 14:02, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Fiction citations

message: Life is not possible without water and it's not even mentioned! AXONOV (talk) ⚑ 12:11, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Water 

message: I have fixed the missing References. I have adressed the issues posted here on the talk page. If you still have an issue please post here on the talk. If no post are added, the tag will be removed later. Thank you Telecine Guy (talk) 18:27, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Tag

message: 'Plate tectonics are needed for life over a long time span, and carbon-based life is important in the plate tectonics process.' I don't believe that's correct, and it's certainly not supported by the reference. Anything underneath that sentence is incorrect or dubious, too. Talc is certainly not organic. 
'An increase in oxygen helped plate tectonics form the first continents'? That's not what the reference states. In fact, it's the opposite. Formation of continents increased oxygen levels.Wookster1 (talk) 16:47, 23 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Plate tectonics