Hey everyone, I'll start out by saying I'm 16 and I do not know a lot about science/nature and would love to be corrected/answered and I do not mind constructive criticism at all, but every time I see something that captures my attention about nature/science or "aliens" I find my self watching/reading it.

I was just thinking about how on Earth there is multiple creatures living on it because of the temperature and other multiple variables is 'perfect'. Is it plausible that in a different place similar to Uranus, considering how cold it is, if it was plausible to have creatures adapted to the weather to live there? I was thinking no because if it's as cold as it is there, then there would be no water supply, correct?

Is it possible for other creatures/plants to live off other gases besides Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide?

I find things like this interesting to learn about and also would like to know what classes I could take as a incoming Junior to learn more about planets and outside of planets life/possible life. Already taken Biology/Chemistry and they are both boring in my own opinion.

On a case not related to this; Does evolution progress because of mutations that are passed a long in DNA? I might be wrong here, but I've thought mutations sometimes were animals attempting to better suit there environment better and after many generations of the same mutation it becomes part of the Species and the ones who don't obtain the mutation will die off because they don't suit the environment very well.

Thanks for helping out.

Edit: I'm also open to any videos/posts about anything related to what I have asked about to watch/read.

This post was edited by iLose on Jul 31 2014 02:29am

are other chemistries possible as base for life or is it only 'organic chemistry' as we know it?
not sure if plausible but definitely possible
as a first step read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical_types_of_biochemistry#Shadow_biosphere

There are living organisms even here on Earth that do not require oxygen and do not produce CO2. In fact, some of them die when exposed to oxygen concentrations as low as 0.5% (air is about 21% oxygen).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobe

For example, check out this article on bacterial colonies in the Great Lakes. These bacteria consume sulfur and produce hydrogen sulfide.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16677-lost-world-of-extremophiles-hides-beneath-great-lakes.html#.U9ppIaOmVpo



There isn't really any such thing as "evolution progress", strictly speaking. Organisms evolve to thrive in their environment, but the changes may not necessarily make them "better" objectively. Some traits that evolved at one point may later become a burden and devolve. For example, many blind fish species living in caves and underground streams have no eyes but still have eye sockets, so they have clearly evolved from a species that did have eyes. Would losing eyes be "progress"? Certainly not in most environments, but it is in theirs. Eyes are a very vulnerable organ and quite complex, and losing them makes perfect sense if you never use them.
Another example would be a tail. Some human ancestor at some point had no tail, but their offspring many generations later did have one, and now we don't have one again.

And yes, mutations are passed on from parent to offspring. If the change is beneficial to the organism then it is more likely to survive and reproduce, hence this change will become more common in the population. If the change is significant enough, those that have it may eventually completely out-compete the ones that don't, so the entire species will eventually acquire the mutation (although not necessarily all from the same parent). If the change is beneficial but not significant, then you may have both populations coexisting. The mutated population may branch off and live in a different environment or consume different resources. Eventually they may become different enough to be considered a new species.

that already exists on earth

there are some creatures that live around the underwater volcanos under extreme temperatures and still thrive

heat/energy/life