Planetary Assumptions: I assume that Kepler-442 b is a rocky super-Earth, containing a composition similar to that of Earth. Iron (Fe) has been shown to be essential for life, so Kepler-442 b’s mantle is assumed to be iron abundant, along with other elements supporting life. This wouldn't be out of the ordinary, as iron exhibits the greatest range in mantle abundance across terrestrial planets (Wade et al., 2021). I also assume that the total atmospheric pressure is high enough to keep liquid water stable and that a biologically available source of nitrogen is available, which are both essential for the long-term sustainability of life (McKay, 2014). Additionally, I assume that Kepler-442 b will have a slow but asynchronous rotational period of 50 days. This may be expected for terrestrial super-Earths orbiting stars with masses between 0.4 and 0.9 M☉ and with a semi-major axis between 0.2 and 0.7 AU, criteria all met by Kepler-442 b (Valente et al., 2024). I assume that Kepler-442 b will have a small obliquity, leading to little seasonal variation. Finally, I assume that Kepler-442 b has a magnetic field strong enough to sustain a long-term atmosphere.
Biochemical Assumptions: All of the life forms exhibited in this exploration are carbon-based. Carbon is versatile in building long chains and rings due to its ability to make 4 bonds and is highly abundant throughout the universe, making it a strong candidate for a fundamental building block of life (Cockell, 2016). Additionally, the life forms in this paper all utilize electrons, electron donors, and electron acceptors in order to maintain a disequilibrium with entropic processes (use free energy to reproduce, repair, and grow), which is the most fundamental process of life. Electrons are also highly abundant throughout the universe, indicating that electron exploitation for metabolic processes may be a fundamental aspect of life (Cockell, 2016).
Evolutionary Assumptions: I assume that Darwinian evolution is a universal process. The organisms presented in this paper have gone through millions of years of evolution, and all life on Kepler-442 b has one common ancestry, analogous to Earth’s last universal common ancestor (LUCA). Consequently, I assume that phylogenetic trees are expected to exist on Kepler-442 b, indicating that emerging complexity leading to hierarchies of organisms may be fundamental to life. Finally, for simplicity, organisms that bear offspring will be classified as female, while organisms that fertilize offspring will be classified as male.
Ecological Assumptions: I assume that the general system design principles of hierarchy, compartmentalization, subsystem isolation, and subsystem specialization apply to all active systems; energy conservation is inefficient and active systems require the flow of energy; the laws of thermodynamics and chemistry are the same throughout the universe, mass and energy are conserved; gas, liquids, and solids have the same properties throughout the universe; and all ecosystems follow the standard tropic pyramid (limit around 4 or 5 levels) (Jones, 2001).