Uninhabited Habitats
An important distinction in habitability is between habitats that contain active life (inhabited habitats) and habitats that are habitable for life, but uninhabited. Uninhabited (or vacant) habitats could arise on a planet where there was no origin of life (and no transfer of life to the planet from another, inhabited, planet), but where habitable environments exist. They might also occur on a planet that is inhabited, but the lack of connectivity between habitats might mean that many habitats remain uninhabited. Uninhabited habitats underline the importance of decoupling habitability and the presence of life, which can be stated as the general hypothesis, 'where there are habitats, there is life'. The hypothesis is falsifiable by finding uninhabited habitats and it is experimentally testable. Charles Cockell and co-workers discuss Mars as one plausible world that might harbor uninhabited habitats. Other stellar systems might host planets that are habitable, but devoid of life.
Read more about this topic: Planetary Habitability
Famous quotes containing the word uninhabited:
“There was now no road further, the river being the only highway, and but half a dozen log huts, confined to its banks, to be met with for thirty miles. On either hand, and beyond, was a wholly uninhabited wilderness, stretching to Canada.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)