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Earth-like exoplanets? The chemical structure may be different, say researchers

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From “Chemical Clues On Formation of Planetary Systems: Earth ‘Siblings’ Can Be Different”
(ScienceDaily, Feb. 23, 2012), we learn,

An international team of researchers, with the participation of IAC astronomers, has discovered that the chemical structure of Earth-like planets can be very different from the bulk composition of Earth. This may have a dramatic effect on the existence and formation of the biospheres and life on Earth-like planets.

‘There could be billions of Earth-like planets in the Universe but a great majority of them may have a totally different internal and atmospheric structure. Building planets in chemically non-solar environments (which are very common in the Universe) may lead to the formation of strange worlds, very different from the Earth! The amount of radioactive and some refractory elements (especially Si) may have drastic implications for planetary processes such as plate tectonics and volcanic activity,’ concludes Garik Israelian.

Comments
Wait- so an earth-like planet can be very unearth-like? OKJoe
February 25, 2012
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