Re: planets

Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> Padraic Brown wrote:
> > This particular world _happens_ to
> > be small and rocky and _happens_ to have a relatively large moon.
> > This is no reason to assume that life _must_ be on a rocky planet with
> > a moon.
>
> True, but the point is that they've done calculations that found that
> without a large moon, the axis would vary greatly.  Of course, maybe
> life could adapt to tremendous climactic changes, but who knows.
>
        There still could be life deep in the seas or in caverns, where the
climatic changes are less tremendous. But for sentient life that would
be something else... And also, Earth lived tremendous climatic changes
(more tremendous than the last glaciation) and life found a way to
adapt, so who knows...

> And, for all we know, there could be life in gaseous planets or on
> stars.  <shrug>
>
        I read a sci-fi book that described in a very plausible way a sentient
lifeform living on the surface of a pulsar. The writer had a scientific
background, but I don't remember who he was. The name of the book (in
French, I only read the translated version), was "Oeuf de dragon"
(Dragon's Egg). Does someone know about it? In another book of his, he
describes an aquatic sentient lifeform very strange and very
intelligent, whose hobby is mathematics ( :) ) living in the ocean of
one planet of a twin planet. I don't remember the title of this book
though.

--
        Christophe Grandsire

        Philips Research Laboratories --  Building WB 145
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        Phone:  +31-40-27-45006
        E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com