Tag: atmosphere
Fire and Fitness: A Summary of the Evidence
Surely there could not be an equivalent ensemble of fitness in nature for some other type of life.
The Amazing Circulation System of Trees
Clearly, unless water can be drawn several meters up the conduits in their tree trunks, large woody trees would be impossible.
For a Technological Civilization, We Must Have Metals
It is very doubtful that any beings in the universe could develop a civilization remotely comparable with our own without the use of metals.
For Fire, Our Planet Is Just the Right Size
Self-evidently, the gravity on the surface of a planet limits the maximum size of large terrestrial organisms.
Why Do We Not Spontaneously Combust?
James Lovelock has pointed out that atmospheric levels of oxygen much above about 25 percent, let alone 30 percent, would cause raging conflagrations today.