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Part of the book series: Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics ((ASTROBIO))

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Abstract

When searching for extraterrestrial life, and particularly intelligent life, elsewhere in the solar system or in our galaxy, the obvious places to look are habitable Earth-like planets. This is because most living organisms are quite vulnerable to harsh conditions, and thus the presence of life will be most likely when very favorable conditions occur. Here organisms that survive under extreme conditions on Earth represent no contradiction, because they have adapted to their way of life by the fierce battle of survival on the basis of Darwin’s theory (discussed in Chap. 6). But what are the conditions that are favorable for life?

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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Ulmschneider, P. (2003). Planets Suitable for Life. In: Intelligent Life in the Universe. Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43212-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43212-9_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-43214-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-43212-9

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