There’s actually nothing carved-in-stone anywhere in Science which dictates that all forms of life throughout the Cosmos absolutely “must have Water.” H2O is the ‘universal solvent’ to undergrad students, it’s also a sufficiently robust & ubiquitous molecule (esp. rocks/meteorites/comets/hydrosphere), and it nicely (conveniently/familiarly for an undergrad) hosts Acid-Base chemical reactions, as well as Redox teactions, & Photochemical reactions; but a chemist could certainly conceive of other solvents/reagents that might fit-the-bill elsewhere, such as NH3.Thank you!
That’s pretty much what I was looking for. Although some may call water a “universal solvent”, there could be other options. Most of what I see is always harping about water. “Pluto’s liquid-water/slush!” and such.
And considering the bizarre extremes we are detecting on other worlds, another substance could be just as plentiful and neutral to be a good solvent.
I kind of have the notion that “life” would require some kind of “transport” mechanism, so to speak - a medium for the transmission of change/energy. For “life as we know it” that would be Water.