Originally posted by Bobboau
does anyone here know enough about chemistry to tell me the feasabilities of this? does liquid methane alow chemical reactions to ocur redaly within it like water does?
I wouldn't say it's impossible but it's certainly harder for life to evolve in liquid methane since only hydrocarbons and other non-polar chemicals will dissolve in it.
Water has much nicer properties for life to evolve in it since metal compounds can dissolve in it so it's easier for complex chemistry to occur in it.
The other problem is the speed of reactions. Cooling something slows down the reaction rate (which is why you put food in the fridge to stop it going bad). Reactions in liquid methane are going to be very slow.
That said 30 years ago no one would have predicted that life could exist in the hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the sea cause there is no sunlight there and they were too hot for the liquid crystals that form the cell walls to work. Turned out they were completely wrong.
