I'm assuming you say this because without phosphorous there is no adinosine triphoshate, and without that it's hard to imagine how life could function without the ATP energy pathway in both animal repiration and photosynthesis. Right? I have to admit I feel like I'm standing all the way up on my mental tiptoes to have even a tentative grasp on some of the basics of molecular biology and am completely beyond my element to try to imagine alternate pathways where key elements found here on Earth might be rare or non-existent on other planets which might otherwise be suitable to host Earth-like life. Anyway, you obviously piqued my curiosity. Do you have any more to say on the subject?

The article says much of the universe is deplete of phosphorous not devoid. much of the soil biota has strategies to cope with very low phosphorous. So their postulation is misleading.

Complete and utter nonsense

Too early to tell if that's actually the case. The sample size is very small, and there could be other factors at work. It's interesting though.

Personality I Think The Premise Is Flawed."Life" Covers Mote Than Our Carbon Based Form.

Only two studies, so not too much credence can be placed in the assumption about alien life, but they do raise some rather interesting questions and a need for further study.

Life as we know it.is the key phrase for me. We don't really know that much.

Um... what if alien life doesn’t have DNA and the need for phosphorus?