by David Toomey
Venusian cloud-borne life posited by, 119
salt lakes, xiv, 4, 22–23, 231n
salt lovers (halophiles), xiv, 15, 22–23, 101, 231n
Saltpeter, Edwin, 120–22, 215n, 220–21
salt water, 22–23, 24–25, 101
see also oceans
Saturn, moons of, xvi, 21–22, 63–64, 102–10, 219
see also Enceladus; Titan
Schrödinger, Erwin, 66, 70, 73, 205, 234n
Schulze-Makuch, Dirk, 81–82, 85, 107, 118, 216
Science, 53, 54
science fiction, xvi, 84, 89–90, 151, 154, 164, 165–78, 185, 206n
alien-human understanding sought in, 168–70, 174–75, 176–77
ambisexuality in, 166
black hole habitats in, 168, 174n
cryogenic life in, 167
defining weird life in, 166–67
“Martian,” 64n, 89, 177
nebula as character in, 172–73, 189
neutron star habitat in, 170–72
parallel universes in, 168, 179–80
plasma-based life in, 168
range of weird life in, 173–77
relative timescales in, 170, 171
scientists as authors of, 173n–74n, 215
silicon-based life in, 167, 168–69, 173n–74n
simulated life in, 210
space-based hospital in, 169–70
stars as habitats in, 167, 168n
Star Trek, 168–69
“sea monkeys,” 24–25
selenocysteine, 35n
SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), 137, 138–64, 217n, 220
advocates of, 140, 141–42
assumptions of, 142–46, 156, 159
critics of, 140–41
deciphering signal received by, 155–59
Green Bank conference of, 139–40, 144, 161–62
potential payoff of, 141–42
Project Phoenix of, 149
“sky surveys” of, 143
strategies of, 142–45
UC Berkeley-SETI Institute joint project of, 148–49, 154
understanding of radically different minds by, 153, 157, 159–64
“water hole” frequency range chosen by, 143, 145
“where are they?” question of, 145–48
“Wow!” signal received by, 142n–43n
see also extraterrestrial civilizations
shadow biosphere, 32–60
adaptive substitutions of, 49–54
arsenic-using, 50–54
biochemically integrated, 42, 43–44, 54–55
biosignatures of, 44–45
chirality of, 54–56
coinage of term, 34
convergent evolution and, 46–47
desert varnish and, 59–60
ecologically integrated, 42, 43, 44, 54–55
ecologically separate, 42–43, 44, 48–54
limited scientific knowledge and, 38–42
search for, 45–60
second genesis scenario of, 33, 35–38, 47, 52, 55
symbiotic, 43–44
and unexplained phenomena, 59–60
very small, 56–59
Shostak, Seth, 148–49, 150, 152, 155
Showman, Adam, 63
“Signatures of a Shadow Biosphere” (Davies, et al.), 33–34
silanes, 90, 91, 93, 94–95, 116
silanols, 116
silica (sand), 91, 95
silicon-based life, 88, 89–95, 96, 152
case against, 90–91
case for, 93–95
in science fiction, 167, 168–69, 173n–74n
at very cold temperatures, 93–94
siloxane, 94
Simpson, George Gaylord, xi–xii
simulated life, 208, 209–15
Singularity Institute, 154
“sinkers,” Jovian, 120–22
slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata), 166
slumping events, 3
Smith, Heather, 107–9, 114–15
Soffen, Gerald A., 72–73, 74, 81
Sogin, Mitch, 43
solar flares, 134
Solaris (Lem), 175–76
Solar System, xvi, 27, 99–122, 219
early history of, xvii, 35
habitable zone of, 62, 96, 97, 148, 233n
habitable zones for weird life in, 96–98
inner, 97, 116–22
Kuiper belt objects in, 167, 168n
moons of, xvi, 21–22, 44–45, 62n, 63–64, 96–97, 98n, 99–110, 115–16
outer, xvi, 63–64, 72n, 97–98, 99–110, 115–16
water on planets and moons of, 61–65
solvents, 103
industrial, 118
water as, xv, 17, 21, 46, 88, 90–91, 118
sonar, 5
South Africa, 43
South America, 4, 59
Soviet Union, 117
space travel, 26–27, 145–47
Spain, 6, 23–24
Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), 18
species, xii, xv, 140–41, 232n
arthropod, 38–39
cooperation between, 43–44
extant, viii, 232n
extinction of, 28–29, 39
mammal, newly identified, 29
number of, viii, 38–40, 232n
unknown, 39–40
Spencer, John, 102–3
spontaneous generation, 26
spores, xvii, 25–27, 36–37
Standard Model of particle physics, 187–91, 198
Stapledon, Olaf, 168n, 238n
stars, 124–26, 127, 131, 133–37
in Drake Equation, 139–40, 144
elements produced by, 125, 199–202
formation of, 126
habitable zones of, 96, 156, 158, 201
as habitats, 133–36, 167
neutron, 134, 170–72, 216
nuclear fusion of, 134–35
number of, 149
planetary systems of, 110–15, 126; see also extrasolar planets
red dwarf, 111, 113–15, 147–48
remnants of, 110, 134–36, 170–72; see also black holes
SETI searches targeted at, 143, 149
Sun-like, 131, 139, 146, 147, 167, 200–201
as supernovas, 85, 110, 134, 170, 201
white dwarf, 134, 135, 170, 215
Star Trek, 168–69
Stevenson, David, 36
Strieber, Whitley, 147
string theory, 192–94
stromatolites, 59, 220
sulfide chimneys, deep-water, 10–11, 14
sulfur, xiv, 51, 117
sulfuric acid, 85, 118–19
Sun, xiv, 7, 27, 29, 36, 84, 96–98, 99, 111, 115–16, 128
as habitat, 133–34
increasing temperature of, 113
stars like, 131, 139, 146, 147, 167, 200–201
see also Solar System
supercritical fluids, 120, 167
supernovas, 85, 110, 134, 170, 201
Sutton, Walter, xi
synthetic biology, 30
Systema Saturnium (Huygens), 103
Tau Ceti, 139
taxonomic classification systems, ix, xii, xv–xvi, 15–16, 19, 65n, 232n
Tegmark, Max, 157, 183, 209
ultimate-ensemble theory of, 204–6
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, 130
temperature levels, 49–50, 113, 167
survival in, xiii, xiv, 20–21, 230n
too extreme, 42
very cold, 21–22, 42, 93–94, 97–98, 99–103, 107, 114–16, 126, 135–36, 148, 230n
of water, xiii, xiv, 10–11, 12, 17–18, 19–22, 42, 85, 94, 230n
“theory of everything,” 190–91, 192, 204, 210
thermodynamic disequilibrium, 73–74, 78, 96, 106, 234n–35n, 107–8, 219
thermophiles and hyperthermophiles, 11–17
as ancestors of all life, 28–31
temperature levels survived by, 20–21, 230n
see also hydrothermal ven
t communities
Thiomargarita namibiensis, 56
tidal heating, 102
“Time without End: Physics and Biology in an Open Universe” (Dyson), 130–32
Tipler, Frank, 190
Titan, xvi, 21–22, 103–10, 114, 147, 219
atmosphere of, 104, 105, 106, 107–8
future missions proposed for, 109–10
Huygens lander on, 104–7, 109
Huygens’s discovery of, 103–4
life on, 106–10
liquids on, 106, 107, 109, 110
methane on, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107–9, 110, 145
size of, 104
surface of, 104, 105–7, 110
Trieste bathyscaphe, 8
Triton, xvi, 63, 115–16, 145
True History (Lucian of Samosata), 133
tube worms, 11n, 39
tufa towers, 52–53
Tyrannosaurus rex, x–xi
ultraviolet radiation, 17, 27, 62n, 84, 108, 118, 125–26, 127–29
universe, 123–37, 141, 156, 179–217
age of, 150
aging of, 134, 135–36
anthropic principle of, 190–92, 197–202
background radiation of, 142, 181
big bang theory of, 172, 181, 189, 191, 200
as closed system, 131
cosmic parameters of, 188–89, 198
cosmological constant of, 196–98, 199, 207
expanding “open,” 131–32, 189
as friendly to life, 186, 187–91, 197–202
future of, 130–32, 134–36
gravitational constant of, 188–89
“heat death” of, 131, 132
as island universe, 181
as mathematical, 204
matter vs. antimatter in, 200
metastable vacuum state of, 192
nucleosynthesis in, 198–99, 200
physical laws of, 180, 184–91, 193–94, 196–206
three-dimensionality of, 181, 207–8
traditional model of, 180–82, 192–93, 206
very early, 190, 192, 198–99, 200
see also multiverse
uranium, 201–2
Uranus, 133
moons of, 63
Urey, Harold, 28
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 53
Uwins, Philippa, 57, 58
“vegetable lamb of Tartary” (Agnus scythicus), ix
ventifacts, 78
Venus, 97, 116–19
acidophilic cloud-born life posited for, 117–19, 120
vesicles, 18, 128–29
Viewing, David, 146–47
Viking spacecraft, life-detecting experiments of, xii–xiii, xvi, 45, 61, 72–82, 99, 108, 121, 234n–35n
ambiguous results from, 79–82
criticisms of, 80
“gas exchange,” 74–75, 79
hydrogen peroxide and, 79, 81–82, 107
“labeled release,” 74, 79, 80, 81, 82
mechanical soil sampler in, 74
molecular soil analysis, 79, 81–82
premise of, 74
“pyrolytic release,” 75, 79–80
and Sagan’s “squamous purple ovoids,” 76–78, 146–47
thermodynamic disequilibrium and, 73–74, 78
Vilenkin, Alexander, 182n
Vinge, Vernor, 153
viruses, 33, 67–68, 234n
vital force, 66, 233n–34n
Volcani, Benjamin, 22–23, 231n
volcanoes, xiii
hot springs heated by, 5
seafloor, 2–3
on Titan, 106
von Däniken, Erich, 147
Voyager spacecraft, 72, 77, 80, 115–16, 121–22
Voyage to Arcturus, A (Lindsay), 175
Wallace, Alfred Russel, xi, 186n
Walsh, Don, 8
War of the Worlds (Wells), 89
water, 16–23, 35, 84–85, 111, 114, 120, 126, 128
acquisition and retention of, 18–22
anhydrobiosis and, 24–27
in brine inclusions, 25, 230n
definition of, 71, 85
as diffusion medium, 17
on Europa, 100–101
harmful effects of, 85n
ice, xiii, 18, 21, 32, 42, 105, 230n
life linked to, xiii, 16–19, 63–65, 85, 109, 114
on Mars, 61–62, 75, 81–82
molecular weight of, 88
organic solvents in, 21–22
phase transition of, 47
polarized molecule of, 17–18
salt, 22–23, 24–25, 101
SETI searches and, 143, 145
in Solar System, 61–65
solutes of, 21–23
as solvent, xv, 17, 21, 46, 88, 90–91, 118
sulfuric acid in, 118
surface tension of, 17, 85
temperature levels of, xiii, xiv, 7, 10–11, 12, 17–18, 19–22, 42, 85, 94, 230n
on Titan, 105, 106, 107
on Venus, 119
Watson, James, xii
Wegner, Alfred, 4
Weinbaum, Stanley G., 173n–74n
Weinberg, Steven, 186, 197–98, 207
weird life:
definition of, 165n
early publications on, xvi
extraterrestrial, xvi–xvii
life’s limits and, xiv–xvii
as term, xvii–xviii
Wells, H. G., 64n, 89–90, 94, 154, 176, 177
West Mata volcano, 2–3
“What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” (Nagel), 160
What Is Life? (Schrödinger), 66, 70, 73, 234n
White, James, 169–70
white dwarf stars, 134, 135, 170, 215
Whitrow, Gerald, 207–8
“Will Robots Inherit the Earth?” (Minsky), 152
Wilson, Edward O., 39, 41, 161
Woese, Carl, 15–16, 53
Wolfe-Simon, Felisa, 52–54
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), 1–3, 5–11
Woolf, Virginia, 160
Wright, Will, 214
Yellowstone National Park, 12–14
Zeeman effect, 139
Zettler, Linda Amaral, 23–24
zooplankton, 8
Picture Section
A griffin. The griffin has the head, talons, and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. According to legend, griffins mated for life; if either partner died, the other would continue throughout the rest of its life alone, never to seek a new mate. This drawing (by John Tenniel) is of the griffin featured in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Riftia pachyptila. Riftia tube worms colonize hydrothermal vent habitats between broken pieces of lava. (Courtesy NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program)
Methane ice worm (Hesiocaeca methanicola). Scientists discovered this organism in 1997 living on and within mounds of methane ice on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. (Courtesy NOAA)
Mono Lake, California. The site of a discovery (now largely discredited) of life that is reputed to have replaced some of its phosphorus with arsenic. (Courtesy NASA)
Titan seen through Saturn’s rings. The haziness of Titan’s atmosphere is obvious in this image, in which the moon appears behind two of Saturn’s rings. Epimetheus, another of Saturn’s sixty-two moons, appears just above the rings. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
Approaching Titan. Views from the descent/imager spectral radiometer on the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe at four altitudes. (Courtesy ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Hydrocarbon lakes in Titan’s north polar region. The dark areas are believed to be large bodies of liquid hydrocarbons. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/USGS)
Neptune’s moon Triton, site of a hypothetical cryogenic biochemistry. Visible in this image are relatively fresh nitrogen frost deposits, “cantaloupe” terrain, and landscapes apparently produced by liquids erupting from the moon’s interior and freezing on the surface. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/USGS)
Floaters. An imaginative depiction of “floaters” in Ju
piter’s stratosphere. (Courtesy Dan Durda, Fellow, International Association of Astronomical Artists [IAAA])
Life along the shore. An imaginative depiction of life along the shoreline of a lake on an extrasolar planet. (Courtesy Dan Durda, Fellow, IAAA)
An alien sky. An imaginative depiction of avian life over the sea of a giant planet’s moon. (Courtesy Dan Durda, Fellow, IAAA)
A surprise. An imaginative (and whimsical) depiction of one of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers approaching an intriguing find. (Courtesy Dan Durda, Fellow, IAAA)
ALSO BY DAVID TOOMEY
The New Time Travelers
Stormchasers
Additional Praise for
Weird Life
“Toomey is a superb explainer, firmly in command of the facts. Weird Life is remarkably comprehensive and written with considerable panache.”
—Literary Review
“Weird Life is an idea incubator for science fiction stories, an entryway into a lost inner world of nebulas and star clusters of the mind, spectacular terrain for daydreaming.”
—Justin Nobel, Orion magazine
“Toomey allows himself to venture into the realms of science fiction, which makes for a fascinating aside.”
—BBC Focus
“Engaging and provocative.”
—Dan Falk, Globe and Mail
“A fascinating introduction to the weirdest life-forms known to science—and the maverick scientists who search for them.”
—Ian Paulson, Guardian
“Biologists and [sci-fi] fans alike will find much here to challenge their preconceived notions of life in the universe.”
—Booklist
“[A] smart, well-organized and highly approachable book. Toomey’s playful style is a joy to read, striking a balance between technical terminology and high readability ideal in popular science writing.”
—Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective
“An ingenious overview of anything that might be alive.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“[Weird Life] does a grand job of introducing a few of the weirdest life forms on Earth.”
—Times Higher Education
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by David Toomey
All rights reserved
First published as a Norton paperback 2014
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