Life Without Water: Warm Salty Worlds ⚡ экспресс
Scientists propose that on warm exoplanets with thin atmospheres, where water is unstable, life's solvent could be ionic liquids — molten salts with negligible vapor pressure. In the lab, they were created from sulfuric acid (volcanic in origin) and nitrogen-bearing organic molecules common in space. The formation conditions — a water-poor surface, temporary presence of liquid acid, and its evaporation — are quite plausible at temperatures between 300 and 470 K. Ionic liquids don't evaporate, dissolve biomolecules, and could support biochemistry, expanding the list of potentially habitable worlds.
On a hot frying pan, water sizzles and vanishes in an instant, while a thick salty paste remains pooled. That same stubborn liquid—molten salt—could be the basis of life on hot planets where water boiled away long ago. These ionic liquids don’t dry out in heat up to 200°C and can persist for centuries.
In the lab, this ‘liquid salt’ was made from sulfuric acid (volcanic emissions) and organic gunk based on carbon. The mixture was heated, the acid dissolved the organics, and after evaporation a thick, stable liquid remained. The process works even at 27°C—a hot day’s temperature.
This medium dissolves enzymes and speeds up biochemical reactions. So life might lurk not only in watery worlds, but also on dry, scorching planets where the chemistry of ionic liquids simmers in craters.
🎯 You can make liquid salt for biochemistry in just a few days from volcanic acid and carbon-rich gunk—common ingredients on many planets.