Studying life in our universe just 85815936000000000000000 kms wide !

I am not a biologists or even a student of biology after my schooling days. But, Biological sciences and specifically natural history has always intrigued me and will continue to do so until I cease to exist. What amazes me is the sheer complexity in which things exist. Even after we have made significant strides in biochemistry and found ways to map DNA and store them, the answer to life is simply too difficult to answer by today’s progress. Of course given the highly religious and orthodox upbringing, I have definitely attributed all of this to the almighty – the omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. I am personally convinced that all this is not definitely possible without somebody being infinitely wise and organized to achieve this improbability. Spiritually I am satisfied that all of this is possible and we live in a real world and that each sentient and insentient is different from each other and all of them have been created (or existed primordially) with a purpose.

Being a student of science, there is another countenance, which convinces me that all (I mean all) is after all chemistry and physics, including life. If we were to take a temporal and spatial stand on this matter, it would become rather easy. I am convinced that at a given instance of time and space, every entity that exists (alive or dead) can be simply rolled into a chemical equation in a state of pure equilibrium. So for me life is a constant changing chemical equation, it is heartless and completely driven by basic forces, trying to drive towards equilibrium. So as each and every molecule tries to come to term with the first principles of Physics and Chemistry to attain equilibrium, life continues to exist. To further push this and ask as to why should we ever go towards the state of equilibrium at all puts me in a fix and I feel like taking shelter under spirituality, the “why” cannot infinitely go deep in answering everything with heartless science.
What enhances my curiosity further is that, is this most optimal way to reach equilibrium? For example, plant life uses photosynthesis to sustain and “live”. Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and sunlight to generate sugars and other complex carbohydrates (again a process of attaining equilibrium) thus sustaining plant life. Almost all forms of life directly or indirectly depend on this process. But of course, there are other species (probably extremely ancient when God was trying out life in his labs). There are organisms that obtain energy and “live” on other chemical processes like Chemotroph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemoautotrophs) that exclusively live in deep and extremely hostile deep sea vents. They derive energy from Oxidation of Iron and Manganese and other metals. Similarly recent reports (as of yesterday – 1^st Dec) claim that NASA may have found bacteria completely living on Arsenic! [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/02/nasa_alien_press/] – though the revelations have not been completely made by NASA, we need to watch and see their expected discovery.

If ever NASA or other organizations across the globe are able establish that life can exist without the current process of elemental combination's (for example Arsenic instead of Phosphorus) it clearly indicates and convinces me that there maybe billions of other life forms spew through the universe! So Aliens do exist and when I say god is omnipresent – he must “definitely” be omnipresent! I can only hope that god is a little more partial to some small dinky planet thrown somewhere in Milkyway which is an ignorable spec in the 93 billion light years (approximately 85815936000000000000000 kms) wide universe!!

- Aditya Rao