NAI: Ask an Astrobiologist

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NASA Astrobiology Institute

Life on Earth

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Questions about Life on Earth

Do you have proof that the Mayan calendar is a hoax? And how is the world supposed to end in 2012 according to the Mayan calendar? AND Is the Mayan Calendar right the world is going to end on Dec 21? I keep on asking my mom these question she keeps on telling me no but I think she lying I'm so scared that the world coming to an end. AND I am really scared & have watched a lot of videos on youtube. The mayan calander videos say they have predicted the end of the world. Is it really going to happen?

I am 14 years old and im really worried about the world ending. Ive seen stuff on geo channel and discovery. Im really worried about the mayan calendar they were really accurate and they predicted it to end. Please get back to me i always think about it and scared.

If we assume that life as we know it was created in a primordial soup, then shouldn`t we find such places even today, let`s say, underground, in hydrothermal vents etc.? Or has the RNA/DNA world overwritten whatever was on the earth before?

With the announcement that 97% of greenland's Ice pack has melted in an astonishing rate wouldn't you agree that if this continues the North Atlantic current could change because of the drop in water temp would case another Ice Age? Half of North America is on fire right now with the other states flooding and we have had more tornado's and earthquakes than in the past.

Why did the Russian Antarctic team not wait for clean drilling technology before they broke through the ice surface of Lake Vostok? Now, they have irreparably contaminated the lake water.

Is oxygen a pre-requisite for all known life? I have read that certain organismsacteria survive entirely on radio-active gases, and survive in an environment with little to no oxygen eg in volcanoes.

Hi,I was wondering why there is a theory of nurses and doctors doing an autopsy on some alien bodies from the Roswell crash.

What are some possible alternate environments in which life may have originated?

As we know, mammals and birds are warm blooded. I have four questions regarding this body warmth . . . 1) Did some cold blooded creatures wake up one morning with warm blood? 2) Did cold blooded creatures wake one morning to find warm blooded neighbors? 3) In mammals and birds, which organ produces body heat. 4) What, in the environmen, may have triggered the creation of warm blooded creatures?

Back in the dim, dark ages when dinosaurs and other very large animals roamed the earth, the possibility occurs to me that the earth could have been much smaller than it is today and in a closer orbit to the sun. A smaller earth would mean less gravity so these large animals could move more easily. It would also mean a faster journey in its orbit if it was closer to the sun and seasons (if any) would be shorter.

There are 108 questions in this category. You are viewing questions 11-20

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