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Comets and the Origin of Life pp 241–248Cite as

Extreme Environments: Are There Any Limits to Life?

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Part of the book series: Proceedings of the College Park Colloquia ((PCPC,volume 5))

Abstract

Many microorganisms can grow in conditions that seem extreme to us: boiling and freezing water, extremes of pH, of salt concentration, of radiation, of other environmental variables. With some ingenious adaptations, the basic mechanisms of “extreme life” seem similar to those of more “normal” life. There do seem to be limits, however, to the environments in which microorganisms can grow. All need relatively abundant amounts of liquid water. Growth does not take place within ice, or at water activities (aw’s) below 0.6, even though living forms can survive much drier and much colder conditions for many years. Unless comets contain substantial amounts of liquid water, life, similar to any that we know, probably cannot exist or arise in them.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Donn Kushner

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  1. Donn Kushner
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Cyril Ponnamperuma

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© 1981 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Kushner, D. (1981). Extreme Environments: Are There Any Limits to Life?. In: Ponnamperuma, C. (eds) Comets and the Origin of Life. Proceedings of the College Park Colloquia, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8528-5_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8528-5_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-8530-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-8528-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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