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Complex Life Around Most Milky Way Stars May Be Impossible

2026-01-26 Science & Technology
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Anton Petrov
Anton Petrov
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Support this channel on Patreon to help me make this a full time job: https://www.patreon.com/whatdamath (Unreleased videos, extra footage, DMs, no ads) Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent here: http://paypal.me/whatdamath Get a Wonderful Person Tee: https://teespring.com/stores/whatdamath More cool designs are on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QFIrFX Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about new studies on extraterrestrial life and photosynthesis Links: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.02548 https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.04448 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/observation-of-significant-photosynthesis-in-garden-cress-and-cyanobacteria-under-simulated-illumination-from-a-k-dwarf-star/18E1D525821108801DBCB99515EBF318 Previous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdKMBXXyhcE TRAPPIST-1: https://youtu.be/Pszyf-IBDto #aliens #photosynthesis #alienlife 0:00 Red dwarfs and life 2:00 Difficulty for photosynthetic life 2:30 History of life on Earth and oxygenation 3:40 What light is needed for photosynthesis 5:40 TRAPPIST-1 as an example - 63 billion years? 7:50 Photosynthesis that doesn't produce oxygen 9:10 Bacteria that are most likely to dominate 10:20 If there is life, it won't be complex and other problems with red dwarfs 11:20 The Anakin problem 11:50 Is there any hope? Conclusions Enjoy and please subscribe Bitcoin/Ethereum to spare? Donate them here to help this channel grow! bc1qnkl3nk0zt7w0xzrgur9pnkcduj7a3xxllcn7d4 or ETH: 0x60f088B10b03115405d313f964BeA93eF0Bd3DbF The hardware used to record these videos: New Camera: https://amzn.to/4pCVINS CPU: https://amzn.to/4qXIaxC Video Card: https://amzn.to/2M1W26C Motherboard: https://amzn.to/2JYGiQQ RAM: https://amzn.to/2Mwy2t4 PSU: https://amzn.to/2LZcrIH Case: https://amzn.to/2MwJZz4 Microphone: https://amzn.to/2t5jTv0 Mixer: https://amzn.to/2JOL0oF Recording and Editing: https://amzn.to/2LX6uvU Some of the above are affiliate links, meaning I would get a (very small) percentage of the price paid. Thank you to all Patreon supporters of this channel Special thanks also goes to all the wonderful supporters of the channel through YouTube Memberships Credit: Mark Garlick www.markgarlick.com Heinrich D. Holland CC BY Sa 3.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event#/media/File:Oxygenation-atm-2.svg Tom Gaimann CC BY sa 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetically_active_radiation#/media/File:Wavelength_Overview.svg John Whitmarsh and Govindjee CC BY SA 2.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetically_active_radiation#/media/File:Par_action_spectrum.gif Lithium byproduct CC BY SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxygenic_photosynthesis#/media/File:Anoxygenic_Photosynthesis_in_Green_Sulfur_Bacteria.svg Kennethcgass CC BY SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_mat#/media/File:Microbial_mat_on_ripple-marked_surface.jpg Licenses used: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and relevant Creative Commons licenses

Top Comments (10)

@GadZookz 2026-01-25

We can’t identify stinky planets without a reliable space smellescope. 🤔

604 51 replies
@Jon-BEDM 2026-01-26

[chucking laptop into trash] my Sci fi novel is ruined

208 10 replies
@AxionSmurf 2026-01-25

Gs and Ks is where it's at

141 23 replies
@abowlofpetunias7488 2026-01-27

I've never quite understood the base assumption that chlorophyll is the only possible photosynthetic mechanism. The researchers literally acknowledge the existence of rhodopsin photosynthesis, which is worse, but it proves the point that other photosynthetic pathways are possible, and I don't see why these couldn't be more efficient.

113 32 replies
@pineapplepizzasandwich1974 2026-01-27

I find it so funny how every now and there's a video that suggests certain things might be impossible, when a big chunk of your library are videos about scientists finding things in the cosmos that they thought were impossible as well.

50 15 replies
@rumrunner8019 2026-01-27

And of course, this comes with a very big asterisk: Life as *WE KNOW IT* is impossible on Red Dwarfs. I have a feeling the first alien life found outside our solar system will be completely different than life on Earth, down to its biochemistry. This is what some scientists call "carbon chauvinism" and "water chauvinism". Maybe nos "visible light photosynthesis chauvinism" could be added to the list.

39 10 replies
@LeafyPhysicist 2026-01-27

Relying on the existence of photosynthesis as a requirement is too constrictive in my opinion. We really don't know the full space of possible proteins that can absorb different wavelengths. Perhaps I am missing something about the author's argument.

6
@samspadeau 2026-01-27

We seek quality of life Other planets seek quality of light

5
@jetryder 2026-01-28

Life as we know it

4
@kewllink3586 2026-01-28

I've been saying this for years. Every time an article pops up and they say they just found Earth 2.0 around a red dwarf, they didn't find anything. A red dwarf is way too volatile for life to exist in its "habitable zones".

0

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