Life, death and rebirth in our Solar System The cycle of life is a grand thing, to be sure. It can be found almost anywhere you look. If you take a walk through the woods, the abundant life, the fallen trees, and the fresh saplings whisper loudly of the way things work in life. Even a simple family reunion will tell tales of the cycles life takes. How many of us have pictures of multiple generations all gathered around in one place? But the cycle of life can appear in the most unseemly of places as well, if you know where and how to look. Take, for instance, our Solar System. If you look closely and take into consideration the recent discoveries made on other planets and their moons, the cycles of life become quite evident. The first case in point, of course, is our own planet Earth. One must be blind with apathy or just plain oblivious to not see at least a few examples of the cycles life can take here on Earth. Teeming with life, our planet has been thought of as the Cradle of Life as we know it for centuries. Even almost all of the thoughts concerning the possibility of life on other planets are compared to life as we know it here on Earth. Many have debated the specific origins of life, and many theories have been postulated, but most have been centered around Earth being the Cradle of Life. A less likely example is the planet Mars. The recent discoveries of the water content in the polar ice caps lends to at least the speculation that there may have once been life on Mars. But there is something else to consider: Mars has at least three volcanoes that are much taller than Mount Everest on Earth, Olympus Mons being one of them. Can you imagine how those volcanoes came to be? How long did they have to erupt to become that large, to where they reach through the top of Mars’ atmosphere? Also consider the fact that scientists have determined that Mars has no molten core such as Earth does. Now, if a series of volcanoes were to erupt to the point they become as large as those found on Mars, would not any molten core eventually become depleted, basically turning any planet inside out? Just what would such a series of eruptions do to a planet like Mars? Would it be possible that at least some form of life may have existed on Mars, only to become buried under miles of ash and dirt? Mars is called the “Red Planet,” right? Molten cores are usually made of iron, which rusts after time and turns red. Imagine what a billion years of erosion could do. Now take a look at the recent discoveries on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, chiefly Titan and Io. Scientists have discovered primordial conditions very similar to those suspected of having existed on Earth. The liquid ammonia, ice, and faint atmosphere tell tales of the possibility of life evolving sometime in the future. Most of us know that Jupiter and Saturn are considered “gas giants,” basically stars that formed but failed to ignite. Another fact to consider is the theorized life cycle of stars. Ok, let’s stretch the imagination a little, and assume that our own sun will expand to a Red Giant in about 6 billion years or so. What if this expansion ignites Jupiter and Saturn and they in fact become infant stars? Would these moons be vaporized by the fledgling stars? Of course not! The gravitational pull from the expanding sun would draw the moons into a deeper orbit around the gas giants prior to their ignition, moving them a safe distance away. What if the heat from these infantile stars warms the yet frozen moons of Titan and Io? Just what kind of life would evolve on them, if any? Would they be similar to Earth? So my friends, the cycles of life exist in all kinds of places. Obviously here, on Earth, but also throughout our Solar System. Once more probes are sent into space with more highly developed technology, what other interesting discoveries will be made? Do other planets or moons have similar signs that life may have or could possibly evolve? If you get tired of the way life is going and need a break from the everyday rat race, look no farther than the stars!
Topic:cycles of life, death and rebirth, life on other planets, mars atmosphere, olympus mons, origins of life, planets and their moons, polar ice caps, possibility of life on other planets, recent discoveriesLife and Death in the Solar System
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