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1.

Temperature, radiation, and geologic activity are very important to habitability of Earth. Temperature is very important because if the temperature was too high or two low the only thing that might be alive on Earth is extremeophiles. And the temperature might be too cold for them as well. Temperature is very important because if the temperature was not right on Earth the only life, if any, would be microorganisms. The low radiation that exists on Earth is vital to life here. If Earth did not have an atmosphere to block most of the radiation life would not evolve beyond the point of life under rock and in the water. Life would not evolve beyond this point because these are some of the places that radiation can’t harm life. That is why low radiation is vital to life on Earth. Geologic activity is also very important to life on Earth because it renews important element to areas that are in need of those elements. If these elements were not renewed life could not exist for long because without them life could not survive.

2. In general I think that temperature is vital. I think this because if the temperature is too high or too low on a planet or moon life can’t continue. I know that some life forms such as extremeophiles can survive in low and high temperatures, but there is a limit to how extreme the temperatures can get. That is why temperature is so important to life. Radiation is important, but not vital to life in general. If the planet has water and there is life in the water radiation will have no effect on life at all. It will have no effect at all because the water will block all of the radiation before it gets to the life forms. But if the life forms on a planet are not living in the water they will probably not survive. Unless they are microorganisms and they are living under rocks or other objects that will protect them from the radiation, they will die. All in all, radiation is important to life in general, but it is not vital. Geological activity is very important to life in general. It is important because without it important nutrients and other elements could not be circulated throughout the planet. And after one area used up all of the nutrients and elements the life forms that lived there would die because of a shortage of elements that were needed for the life forms to survive. Next to the temperature of a planet geological activity is the next most important factor for life to survive.

3. The three major components that are needed by any environment in order for it to be habitable are temperature, water, and the amount of geological activity. Temperature is very important because if the temperature was not right life could not survive. Life could not survive because if the temperature was too cold or too hot the cell(s) in a life form could not operate, causing the life form to die. Water is very important because without it most life forms would not be able to survive. Another benefit of water on a planet or moon is that if there is no atmosphere to block UV rays life forms can live in the water and be safe from the radiation. And obviously for the life forms on the planet or moon to stay hydrated and not die because of a water shortage. Geological activity is a major component because without it elements could not be renewed to areas that need them. The result of this would be whole areas of life forms perishing because they did not have the elements that they needed to continue to survive. Some of the ways that life forms use these components are these. There are several forms of water, but the easiest way for life forms to use it is when it is liquid form. It is easiest because when it is in liquid form cells can easily take in the water. When the water is in solid or vapor form it is very hard for the cells to take in the water. Most water is provided to life forms through rivers, lakes, or oceans, but in can also be provided through snow, rain, or melted ice. Some life forms such as those in cold climates use water after it has been melted from ice form. Geological activity is essential for life to continue for long. It is essential because without it an area would use up all of its important elements and have no way to get them back. Geological activity replenishes elements to area that need them. It is so important that without it life in one area would not last any longer than the important elements will last. Temperature is vital for life to exist because if the temperature is too cold or too warm life cannot continue for very long at all. There are several ways that temperature is used. In cold environments life forms might be protected from the cold. An example of this is a seal which has blubber to keep it from getting cold and dying. On the other hand life forms that live in hot environments might have a way from getting too hot. For example, when a dog gets too hot they pant. When a human gets too hot they sweat.

Those are the essentials for life to exist and how they are supplied to life forms.

A living organism has to have a habitable habitat. A habitat isn’t habitable if it doesn’t have a stable temperature, low radiation levels and geological activity.
The Earth’s stable temperature, low radiation level, and geological activity are very important because they provide a stable platform for life. A stable temperature allows for multi-celled organisms to grow. For example most Extremophiles live in very unstable environments and consist of only one cell. A low radiation level allows for life to survive. With a high radiation level, we would have extremely damaged cells and would die. Geological activity replenishes organic compounds that are needed for survival. Without plate tectonics we would have run out of carbon long ago and would have died out.
As we have seen on the moon, varying temperatures, high radiation, and no geological activity spell disaster for life. The lack of atmosphere makes the moon a sitting duck for drastic temperature changes and solar wind. Tectonic plates are not present on the moon and so there is no replenishing geological activity like we see on Earth.
A habitable environment needs to have a stable temperature, a low radiation level and a high amount of geological activity. Otherwise anything living in this area would not be able to adapt to the sudden changes and would die.

   Temperature, Radiation, and Geologic Activity

One way radiation is important to life on Earth is how we see. Radiation is what allows us to see color. There is ultraviolet radiation,(UV) infrared radiation, and visible light. There are also rays in the light spectrum. (i.e. microwaves, and x-rays) The radiation coming from the Sun (Sol) helps keep the Earth warm. Like all things, radiation is not always good for the environment or life. Ultraviolet radiation for example; it can cause skin cancer in humans when people stay out too long. It will also kill almost all life on Earth (except in the oceans)if Earth didn’t have an atmosphere.

Temperature is also very important to life on Earth. It keeps liquid water on the surface. It helps keep a healthy and stable ecosystem. Even a 10 degree F. change in temperature could turn the English coast into a desert. We can start to see the effects of that 10 degree difference already happening with global warming. The poles are starting to melt, and if that happens the whole world would be one giant ocean. More like a giant lake with all that fresh water ice from the poles. This would kill almost every water dwelling creature and every land dwelling creature.

Geologic activity is another important part of life on Earth. It is a major part  of Earth’s climate. It is what makes volcanoes erupt. Since volcanoes spew out tons (I mean that literally) of ash and gas it can effect global climates. Some scientists think that the ice age was caused by volcanic activity. It can also cause mass extinctions. Some scientists think that volcanic activity helped cause the Permian mass extinction. They think the volcanic ash that got spewed into the atmosphere caused everything to heat up. With the increasing temperatures, frozen methane bubbled up from the ocean depths. With increasing temperatures in the water, on land , and with methane leaking up from the ocean floor, the Earth became extremely hot, and no rain would fall. This is one of the theories as to why 94% of life on Earth died off. Geologic activity can also create areas of great biologic diversity. Take the Great Interior Sea for example. It was a massive interior sea roughly where Utah and the states that it borders are today. It had some lush ecosystems. Then a drifting land mass(it is the land that currently makes the Rocky Mountains to the California coast.) collided with North America, thus, eliminating the Great Interior Sea.

For life in general, the importance of temperature, radiation and geologic activity would vary greatly.

Temperature is important to life. Life can survive in many different temperatures, but liquid water would always have to be present. This means the temperature would not be able to exceed boiling point. The only exception to this is underground life. Here on Earth, the ground is always an approximate 54 degrees F, thus, making liquid water possible. If it was underground life, it would have to be a non-plant based ecosystem. The likely source of food would be bacteria, like in the hydrothermal vent ecosystems.

As for geologic activity, is important to life in several ways. If the life was on the bottom of the ocean or a mass extinction was to happen, geologic activity would be very important. The reason it would be important for life on the ocean floor, is because the hydrothermal vents are fueled by the geologic activity  beneath the crust. This is most likely the type of ecosystem that scientists would find on another planet like Europa. Mass extinctions are handy for starting over so new, and different organisms can take over or evolve.

Radiation is important for vision. If scientist were to find water dwelling organisms, solar radiation would not be an issue. Water protects organisms from the lethal ultraviolet or UV radiation that is in solar radiation.(The atmosphere also protects life from ultraviolet radiation.)

The top three most important things to create life are: temperature, water and an atmosphere.

Temperature is probably very diverse when it comes to how it is used. For organisms that live in very hot environments (in extremophiles, organisms like these are called thermophiles. Thermos is Greek for heat and philia is Greek for love or friendship.) they might need to have the ability to sweat in order to keep themselves cool.  For organisms that live in cold climates,( in extremophiles they are called psychrophiles. Psychro means cold) they may need protection from the cold. Ways to combat this are: large amounts of blubber (fat), or thick fur or skin, as well as many different adaptations life as used over the millions of years it has been around.

Water can be found in varying amounts. Organisms in a desert may store water in one of its body parts, like desert plants store water in their leaves and stems. In swamps, the abundance of water can lead to poor nutrition for some organisms. Some plants turned to bug dissolving to get their nutrients.(i.e. Venus fly traps.) Some ways water can be distributed are: melting snow, oceans and rivers, underground reservoirs, and moisture in the air. Any of these are ways for organisms to gain water.

The atmosphere is one of the other things that helps to make a planet/moon habitable. It protects the planet from ultraviolet radiation. This protection is what allows organisms to live on land. If an atmosphere did not exist, organisms would have to have their own protection from the radiation. This would create totally different life forms.

Life can adapt to many different environments and challenges. These challenges are what makes life more diverse.

                     Life Beyond Our Planet

If scientist were to find life on another planet, they would most likely find some extremophiles, and microbes. If the ecosystem is developed, scientists might find some small multi-cellular organisms and plant-like organisms. If they are really lucky they might find intelligent life, but that is very unlikely.

The differences would be rather large, but the most likely they would be:

a different way of breeding, where only one organism is needed or three or more organisms are needed compared to the two organisms required for most life on Earth. They might not need oxygen to breathe, or at least not as much. There might not be any land dwelling organisms, like if scientist were to discover life on Europa.

The similarities scientists would find are:

All life forms need water to live, they can do metabolize, they eat or make their own food, and reproduce. The life forms on other planets would probably be nothing like life on Earth.

Life on other planets would be a thrill to find. Looking at the similarities of the life forms compared to Earth, will help scientist find out what are the bare minimums for life. By looking at the differences we can find out what life can do when given different, inconceivable environments that would be impossible here on Earth, and watching them thrive in it.

Life on other planets has always fascinated people, but the little green men in flying saucers is probably wrong. Life on other planets will be similar to life on Earth in some ways and different in others. Life on other planets will probably not occupy the same habitats as most life on Earth.

Scientist looking for life on other planets and moons will most likely find Extremophiles. The reason why I think this is because of the fact that the Habitable Zone only covers Earth. Anything outside of that zone is either too hot or too cold to support most types of life We have already seen Extremophiles that live in places that, without special equipment, we would die in a matter of seconds(e.g. The Dry Valleys, Deep Sea Thermal Vents), and Extremophiles that were accidentally introduced to the moon. So if there is life outside of the Habitable Zone, it is probably one of the several types of Extremophiles.

Life outside of the Habitable Zone may be different in many ways. In order to survive on Venus for example, a life form would have to be a mix of several different types of Extremophile(Thremo-Acido-Halo-Philes) and would have to get is energy from Kemosynthesis (Eating poison). This is how different life outside of the HZ may be.

Life outside the Habitable Zone may be similar to life on Earth in a couple of ways. Life will still have to get energy. Life will still have to evolve in order to adapt to its habitat

Life outside of our planet will not have the same limitations as the ones on our planet, although they may have some similarities. Someday we may get to see some of the life we have searched for for years.  

If scientists were to find life on a different planet I think that the life would be a microorganism. I think this way for many reasons. One, because microorganisms are very simple and do not take as long to evolve as complex organisms such as humans do. So we are much more likely to find microorganisms than complex organisms. Two, because extremphiles are microorganisms. And because most planets that could support life would still be very harsh compared to earth standards, extremphiles may be the only kind of life that can prevail. After that, because even if there was complex life there would probably still be microorganisms living on that planet. On Earth there are complex organisms, but there is also microorganisms living among us. Lastly, because if the temperature on a planet was extreme microorganisms would be much more likely to survive. On Earth most of the organisms that live in extreme environments are microorganisms.

Depending on which planet we found life on it could differ, or it could not differ from life here on Earth. If we found life on a planet that was somewhat close to Earth the life might not differ from what we have here on Earth. If might not differ because the life that was on Earth might have somehow traveled to the planet and evolved on its own. It would be a little bit different, but for the most part it would not differ from life on Earth. But if we found life on a far away planet it would probably be different from life that is here on Earth. It might be different for two reasons. One, because it is a completely different type of life and shows no resemblance to that of life on Earth. Two, because it was from the same origin, but it has evolved and changed so much that we would not be able to tell if there is any similarity between Earth’s life and the other planet’s life. The life could differ in a couple of different ways. One of them is that the organisms or microorganisms could reproduce differently. The way that they might reproduce could be different from any way that we know of on Earth. The way that they get energy could differ as well.

There are many things about these life forms that could be the same. If the life was basically the same as it is on Earth there are many factors that could be the same. These might include the way the organisms get energy, the way that they use the energy, and how the organisms reproduce. And if there were plants on the planet they might get their food by photosynthesis, and some animals, if there were any, could get their food from the plants.

That is my opinion about when scientists find life on another planet.

                      Odd Animals

The Galapagos Marine iguana is a very odd animal that evolved due to the isolation of the Galapagos Islands.

The Marine iguanas that live in the Galapagos Islands have flatten tails to help them swim. They only live on the Galapagos islands, and  eat the algae off the rocks in the shallow water. They live in large colonies on the shores. They were discovered by Charles Darwin, when he sail to the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle.

When the first iguanas arrived on the Galapagos by the ocean current, they ate the food on land, but as the food on the land began to disappear, they started to go to the shore to find a meal. Eventually, they began going into the water for food and they kept going deeper and farther from shore. Now that they ate in the sea, they needed to swim in order to get food, so eventually they evolved flatted tails. This is what created the first marine iguana. There are no other iguanas in the known world that swim.

One species that is going through a similar change are orangutans. To be more specific, a group of orangutans on an island. They are a part of a rescue plan to help save orangutans from extinction. Normally, orangutans are nomads and live alone, but these orangutans live together in a community.

They could just spread out and be alone, like they would be in the wild, but they choose to stay together in groups. This is a very strange thing for orangutans to do. They also share food with each other sometimes. All of these things would normally not happen in the wild. With more habitat destruction, wild orangutans might begin to make communities, like the orangutans on the island did.

When a barrier, which can be objects such as a stretch of water or a mountain range, separates different groups of the same species, the groups may no longer be able in breed with one another. Because of this they may form their own species. They will adapt to the climate and habitat of the new environment. An example of this is the Pup Fish that lives in Death Valley.
About 50,000 years ago Death Valley had a damp, rainy environment that had many lakes and ponds that were connected by rivers and streams. Over several thousand years the rainfall in the region began to decrease. This caused the rivers and streams to dry up so the lakes and ponds were no longer interconnected. And because of this, different groups of Pup Fish became isolated in their own pond. Because each pond had a slightly different environment, the different groups of pup fish had to adapt to their new surroundings. This happened about 4,000 years ago. Now Death Valley is a desert with an occasional pond which contains a different species of pup fish. Scientist know that they are different species because if the fish breed they will not produce fertile offspring. Now there are many different kinds of Pup Fish that can’t interbreed, they can only breed with the other fish in their pond. The different kinds of Pup Fish are now evolving independently.

Many people know about the speciation of the Galapagos Tortoises, but I bet you didn’t know about the new species of mosquito living in the Tubes in London. These mosquitoes used to drink the blood of birds before they moved underground about 100 years ago, but now, because of their geographic isolation in their subterranean climate they have evolved to take advantage of the new food sources available. The original species was named Culex pipiens and the new species is called Molestus. Over the last hundred years, Molestus have evolved their menu to include rats, mice and maintenance workers. The mosquitoes preyed on people hiding during World War II. Researchers from Queen Mary and Westfield College found that Culex pipiens cannot mate with Molestus, thus proving that Molestus is the result of allopatric speciation. Mosquitoes reproduce very fast, especially in underground places like the Tubes. It took a mere century for this new species to be created instead of the thousand years it would have taken another, slower reproducing, species.

http://www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/Jul-Sep/msg00188.html