The Deep Dive with Andre

Stellar Abiogenesis: Inorganic Life Within Stars


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It’s common knowledge that stars can’t host life, but it’s still fascinating to hear what science has to say about it.

The provided text, "Inorganic Life Within Stars," explores the highly speculative concept of life existing inside stars, moving beyond traditional definitions reliant on carbon and water. It examines the extreme conditions within a star's core, where matter exists as a chaotic plasma, and proposes a physics-based definition of life centered on information processing and maintaining a far-from-equilibrium state. The document details theoretical models for such life, including self-organizing "dusty plasmas" and the "cosmic necklace" hypothesis involving topological defects, each with proposed mechanisms for information storage, replication, and metabolism. Finally, it critically assesses the plausibility of these models, highlighting the immense challenges of stability and the hypothetical nature of some proposed substrates, while also discussing potential stellar biosignatures and the broader implications for astrobiology and the Fermi Paradox.

Research done with the help of artificial intelligence, and presented by two AI-generated hosts.

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The Deep Dive with AndreBy Andre Paquette