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/sci/ - Science & Math

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5621549 No.5621549 [Reply] [Original]

Are planet-sized life forms scientifically possible?

>> No.5621561

Statement is true for very small planets.

>> No.5621566

My roommates te other day:
>Did you ever wonder if the world is like, one big organism, with all the plants and animals acting as organelles.
>What if the world needed EVERY species and the world will die if the polar bears go extinct?
>You can't prove that it's wrong, that's what science is about, not being able to prove that something is absolutely wrong.
I. Shit. You. Not.

>> No.5621567

>>5621561
nope

>> No.5621565

size is a cultural construct

>> No.5621571

>>5621549
Maybe a colonial algae or fungi type organism could cover the surface of a planet with nearly perfectly homogenous conditions but it would only be able to just cover the surface. Too thick of a layer and there would be a problem with it's surface area to volume ratio in transporting nutrients and gas exchange.

>> No.5621586

>>5621566
Yeah, world would die if even a single species dies.

What are Dodos?

>> No.5621593
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5621593

surface area to volume ratios - it would suffocate

>> No.5621617

>>5621593
>what is variable metabolism
>what is alternative metabolism

>> No.5621618

>>5621549
SImple answer: We do not know.

>> No.5621635

>>5621593
>it would suffocate
will it not have enough surface area to absorb vacuum from space?

>> No.5621639

> lifeforms
A term with many inappropriate connotations in this context. Jupiter brains are probably feasible, powered Hawking radiation from minuscule black holes or yet more exotic forms of power generation, but I don't see any way to have them form in the universe without intelligent design.

>> No.5621640

>>5621617
> what are baseless claims
> what are manchild fantasies

>> No.5621642

Maybe not a single entity by your standards but maybe something algae like that spreads throughout a gas cloud and is close enough to a star still for photosynthesis

>> No.5621643

I remember seeing an article posted here that said particles in nebulas can self-organize. If the universe is infinite, that means somewhere these nebulas have undergone natural selection and become a "life form" whether you would recognize it as such is a different story.

>> No.5621644

The core of Saturn is a gigantic computer of sorts, perhaps a form of life. If you read up on the Eye of Horus, and the phenomena at the poles of Saturn, you'll see.

>> No.5621646

Define life form
A matrioshka brain can be the size of a solar system.

>> No.5621649

>>5621644
Huh? Sauce?>>5621644

>> No.5621652

>this thread
>my face


"Life form" is an arbitrary concept officialiazed more than a half century ago by some plebes.

If you consider life anything that exhibits very sophisticated electrochemical reactions like DNA does, then i must say that in theory there is nothing that forbids that.

But that is as arbitrary as the definition of life, which is the very problem in your question.

To me your question sounds like: is a bagel a true bagel or a false bagel is faker than lies?

>> No.5621669

>>5621640
>>what is no counter arguement
>what is ad homenium

>> No.5621681

>>5621586

Its a fucked up world that deserved to die, if it all came to existence of such useless creatures as pandas (which will no doubt become extinct).

>> No.5621683
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5621683

Humanity is a planet-sized lifeform

>> No.5621686

>>5621683
Naw, thats just the final form of your basic American couch potato.

>> No.5621689

I see alot of people are mentioning surface to volume ratio. But wouldn't this onyl apply to planet-shaped lifeforms? a human with the same volume as a sphere has a larger surface area. or am i wrong?

>> No.5621713

Read about the gaia theory

>> No.5621801

It would either be very slow, or it would have to have extremely fast ways to transfer information between different parts of the body. Using nerves like ours, it would take a signal at least 20 hours to travel from the surface of the earth to the center.

>> No.5621885

no

>> No.5622215

>>5621801
Super conductors

>> No.5622239

>>5621549

atmospheric intelligence

directional lightening that alters the local ionization of the atmosphere and as such creates logic gates...

..much like a computer.. not impossible.


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