Soupie
Paranormal Adept
Maybe a transition to silicone would be adaptive for life for the following reason:
Are Gamma-Ray Bursts Keeping Life from Developing in the Universe? | Motherboard
Are Gamma-Ray Bursts Keeping Life from Developing in the Universe? | Motherboard
... Fortunately, the probability of a lethal GRB goes down quickly the further we are from the galactic center. This means that Earth is relatively protected, yet most other habitable exoplanets would be found closer in. Near the center of a galaxy, lethal GRBs are almost guaranteed—periodic biological cleanses.
What's more, the universe only becomes more compact as we go back in time, and for much of history, life as we know it would be just plain impossible
"It seems the survival of life, as we know it on Earth, was only a recent phenomenon in the history of the Universe caused by the growth of large galaxies," Piran et al write. "Life forms that might have existed earlier or that exist today in other regions of the Universe that are much more susceptible to significant GRB bombardment must have been much more resilient to radiation than life on Earth."
The authors note that regular gamma-ray wipes might be a good thing for the overall development of higher-order life, but if that life happened to already exist at the time, it would likely die a miserable death. In the interim, we should probably worry about other sorts of radiation dooms.
What's more, the universe only becomes more compact as we go back in time, and for much of history, life as we know it would be just plain impossible
"It seems the survival of life, as we know it on Earth, was only a recent phenomenon in the history of the Universe caused by the growth of large galaxies," Piran et al write. "Life forms that might have existed earlier or that exist today in other regions of the Universe that are much more susceptible to significant GRB bombardment must have been much more resilient to radiation than life on Earth."
The authors note that regular gamma-ray wipes might be a good thing for the overall development of higher-order life, but if that life happened to already exist at the time, it would likely die a miserable death. In the interim, we should probably worry about other sorts of radiation dooms.