Life As We Do Not Know It is a non-fiction book by Peter Ward. It is about the possibility of life on other planets-- including Mars, Titan, and Europa-- and what it may look like, concluding that most extraterrestrial life would be in the form of microbes.

Ward proposes a new "dominion", called Terroa, to cover all DNA-based life on Earth; other dominions would include hypothetical RNA life as well as life from other planets. Plausible non-earth life or non-'terroan' life forms that are mentioned include protein life (which uses protein in place of DNA to store genetic information), ammonia life, acid life and silicon life, while Ward refutes the possibility of energy beings made of pure plasma. This book also discusses the panspermia hypothesis and whether viruses and prions should be considered life.

External links

Life as We Do Not Know It at Google books