d.brin writes:
> This is the compulsory/plausible explanation that I love the best, because
> it means there are tons of beautiful worlds out there, some with
> philosophical sea beings, but almost no hands-fire potential competitors.
But the Earth's position in the habitable zone hasn't much to do with
how much water we have. Water is lost due to weak magnetic fields
and weak gravity. Earth has lost rather little water in spite of
being relatively warm. If Venus had a nice beefy magnetic field like
the Earth does it would still have lots of water, although it would
be too hot for complex life as we know it (no references; I remember
an estimate of 140 F).
Received on Thu Dec 18 00:05:05 1997
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