Abstract
Life on a global biosphere basis is substantiated in the form of organics and organisms, and defined as the intermediate forms (briefly expressed as CH2O) hovering between the reduced (CH4, methane) and (CO2, carbon dioxide) ends, different from the classical definition of life as a complex organization maintaining ordered structure and information. Both definitions consider sustenance of life meant as protection of life against chaos through an input of external energy. The CH2O-life connection is maintained as long as the supply of H and O lasts, which is in turn are provided by the splitting of the water molecule H2O. Water is split by electricity, as well-known from school-level experiments, and by solar radiation and geothermal heat on a global scale. In other words, the Sun’s radiation and the Earth’s heat as well as radioactivity split water to supply H and O for continued existence of life on the Earth. These photochemical, radiochemical and geothermal processes have influences on the evolution and current composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, compared with those of Venus and Mars, and influences on the planetary climatology. This view of life may be applicable to the “search-for-life in space” and to sustainability assessment of astrobiological habitats.
Highlights
What is life? Erwin Schrödinger, 1933 Nobel Laureate in Physics, tackled this long-standing question and defined life as the organization that maintains complex structure and heritable information in expense of “negentropy” [1]
Local entropy within a system may decrease in the expense of potential energy, i.e., negentropy, and such situation is substantiated in living organisms that expend chemical potential energy to maintain their structure and information
The question what is life is transformed as what supports life, and an answer for a living organism is the chemical potential energy that lowers local entropy, despite an increase of overall entropy
Summary
What is life? Erwin Schrödinger, 1933 Nobel Laureate in Physics, tackled this long-standing question and defined life as the organization that maintains complex structure and heritable information in expense of “negentropy” [1]. Local entropy within a system may decrease in the expense of potential energy, i.e., negentropy, and such situation is substantiated in living organisms that expend chemical potential energy to maintain their structure and information. While heat from the Earth’s interior originates from gravitational and nuclear potential energy of the silicate gas disk/microplanets and radioactive 40K, respectively. The non-photosynthetic mode of autotrophy is called chemolithoautotrophy, by which organics are produced in the expense of chemical energy liberated from the oxidation of inorganic compounds such as hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide. This mode of chemolithoautotrophic life is known to thrive in the deep-sea and deep sub-seafloor. This chapter tries to apply Schrödinger’s negentropy concept to biosphere, and evaluates the sources of chemical potential energy for chemolithoautotrophic lives in deep-sea and deep sub-seafloor [4,5] from a planetary point of view
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
