Water; required for life (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 19:50 (3237 days ago) @ David Turell

Another study of water's unique properties as a requirement for life:-http://phys.org/news/2016-01-uncover-unusual-properties.html-
"In many ways, water behaves very differently than other liquids do, and with important consequences: It's widely thought that water's unusual properties were essential for the development of life on Earth. One prime example is the fact that ice floats. Unlike other substances, frozen water is less dense than liquid water, and this anomaly allows fish and other aquatic lifeforms to survive in the water under a frozen layer of protective ice during cold periods. Water also has a high heat capacity, meaning it can absorb and release a large amount of heat while undergoing very little change in temperature. This property helps many living organisms maintain a relatively stable body temperature, and it also provides a pleasant climate in Europe due to the warm Gulf Stream current. 
 
"It's widely known that water's anomalous properties are related to its hydrogen bonds, which cause liquid water to arrange itself in a highly ordered way because of the attraction between the hydrogen atoms in one water molecule and the oxygen atoms in adjacent molecules. However, researchers do not completely understand how water's unique hydrogen-bonded structure leads to its anomalous properties. -***-"It is the fluctuations between high-density liquid and low-density liquid that give rise to the anomalous properties," Nilsson told Phys.org.-"Take water's large heat capacity, for instance. As Nilsson explained, heat capacity is related to entropy fluctuations, and entropy is in turn related to the number of possible ways the available energy can be distributed in the system. Fluctuations between the low- and high-density local structures increase the magnitude of the entropy fluctuations and, consequently, the heat capacity.-***-"While the new paper combines many years of data into one cohesive picture, many questions still remain. One unanswered question, for instance, is why does water's anomalous region occur at the same temperatures and pressures that sustain life? It seems likely that water's anomalous region served to place constraints on the conditions required for life to exist. A better understanding of this overlap could have implications for understanding life on a fundamental level."
(my bold)-Comment: I view water's unique properties as part of the fine tuning of this universe to allow life to appear. Our bodies are about 90% water so the reasoning fits.