We all remember that star trek about the potential for a silcon-based lifeform. I remember hearing somewhere that this was thought possible because of structural similarities of the atoms. I also remember, just barely, that silicon can be used in chips because there is some “band” which allows the free transference of electrons, ie a conduit. My question is - Is there any link between why silicon is used in computer chips (and consequently artificial life) and the theory of silicon-based life?
I don’t think so, it was just that there are quite a few similarities between silicon and carbon; it forms similar sorts of (and a wide variety of) compounds with other elements as does carbon, so it’s proposed that it might be used as the basis for (I was about to say ‘organic’, but the chemists tell me that this would be incorrect terminology) life.
As to whether the similar behaviours of silicon and carbon are anything to do with it being a useful substrate for microelectronics, if this was the case, then wouldn’t it be true that carbon would be a suitable material for electronics?
Sorry, that wasn’t very much help, was it?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/askexpert/astronomy/astronomy28/astronomy28.html
This pretty much explains why silicon couldn’t be the basis for life (as we know it).
In one of Frank Edwards “*Strange” books, he gives an account of someone who created silicon-based life forms back in the 1800s in a laboratory experiment.
He also gives accounts of UFOs, Bigfoot, and psychics.
*The titles are “Stranger Than Science,” “Strange World,” “Strangest of All,” and “Strange People,” IIRC.