Whereas most of the Venusian CO2 is in gaseous form in the atmosphere, our planet developed an efficient conversion cycle through which carbon could be stored in coral reefs, or limestone rock, — like the stunning White Cliffs of Dover on the coast of England.
At one extreme (left panel) there is only one possible sequence of events that could result in our planet developing a biosphere, implying that life could not emerge unless very specific conditions were present on Earth throughout its history.
In between are more squishy details like how many habitable planets there are per planetary system (one to five they said), and what fraction of those habitable planets develop life, intelligence and the technology to communicate with other worlds.
Because the interstellar clouds are the material from which new stars are made, the finding shows that it is increasingly likely that some chemicals that are thought of as the precursors to life formed before the planets developed.
If even a tiny fraction of those suns have planets like ours, and even a tiny fraction of those planets developed life, and even a tiny fraction of those life forms achieved human-level intelligence... well, the number of civilizations capable of interstellar communication and travel should be theoretically large enough to crowd our galaxy with signals, ships, artifacts.
This detailed knowledge, in turn, provides deeper insight into the mechanisms by which planets in general cool down, by which their magnetic fields are generated, and by which the separation of lighter elements from heavier ones as planets develop their internal structure releases additional energy for geologic processes and alters crustal compositions.
Lost Planet 3. Rather less offensive is an entirely unexpected sequel: Lost Planet 3 (developed by Spark Unlimited; published by Capcom; available for PC, PS3 and 360).
Would the entire planet suddenly develop a peanut allergy?
"And with vapor the planet can develop an atmosphere around it".
Dr Hazen argues that considering minerals in evolutionary terms is a powerful way to help identify how far a planet has developed geologically.
