Can nitrogen based life exist?

Nitrogen is one of a handful of elements that have been suggested as alternatives to carbon as the basis of life elsewhere in the universe. Principally this is because it can form long chains at low temperatures with a liquid solvent such as ammonia (NH3) or hydrogen cyanide (HCN).

Is it possible to have life that is not carbon based?

On Earth, all known living things have a carbon-based structure and system. He considered that there was only a remote possibility that non-carbon life forms could exist with genetic information systems capable of self-replication and the ability to evolve and adapt.

Do all carbon based lifeforms need oxygen?

There is no link between us being carbon based lifeforms and us needing or not needing oxygen, which we need to make high energy phosphate ATP we need to fuel all our metabolism in the mitochondria in our cells.

Why is all life carbon based?

Life on Earth is based on carbon, likely because each carbon atom can form bonds with up to four other atoms simultaneously. This quality makes carbon well-suited to form the long chains of molecules that serve as the basis for life as we know it, such as proteins and DNA.

What does carbon based life form mean?

Originally Answered: What is a carbon-based lifeform? All life on Earth, at least that we know of so far, is carbon based. Basically it means that carbon atoms form the scaffolding for hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen to form the complex molecules that our bodies are based on.

Why carbon is described as carbon based life?

The most important characteristics of carbon as a basis for the chemistry of life are that each carbon atom is capable of forming up to four valence bonds with other atoms simultaneously, and that the energy required to make or break a bond with a carbon atom is at an appropriate level for building large and complex …

Why carbon is described as carbon-based life?