Nasa is about to make a press release about "possibly some biological discovery" is this an introduction to the discovery of what we all know to be true, LIFE EXISTS OUT THERE
My guess is they've discovered some form of microbiology on a saturniun moon??
The announcment will be live on NASA TV early Friday morning Dec 3rd.
Speculation that life has been discovered beyond Earth exploded on the Internet after NASA announced plans for a briefing involving scientists who study unusual life forms.
The briefing, set for Thursday, focuses on a paper being published in the journal Science, which has not been made public.
But when it is released, the paper will be a disappointment to those speculating about its contents. It does not report finding life outside of Earth, according to science writers who have seen the paper.
Just to spoil it. It appears there are about 1/3 more red dwarves than thought. the logic being: Dwarves are old. More dwarves, more chance of life.
Not exactly LGMs floating in the Oort Cloud.
Hmmm, just read more about this 'announcement' and ( correct me if I'm wrong) it says they have found a microbe that lives in an arsenic rich environment in a thermal pool in USA. This microbe has substituted the essential phosphorous element with arsenic instead. The implication is that it makes life more likely to be seen in other hostile environments, opens the options up so to speak.
I can see all these speculations just in this post, there is definately going to be some people disappointed by the announcment.
I remember the most recent announement was a let down for many news site speculating. I suppose that is the best way for their advertising money to used.
I wonder why very few people simply wait for the announcement. Nice to know about it.
Not sure what you're quoting from there .. but even if they found life living in arsenic, I still don't think this alters the probability of life existing elsewhere.
If you are expecting an announcement of intelligent life somewhere out there, or even simple life on one of the moons of our solar-system I think you are going to be gravely disappointed.
I will be very, very surprised it it amounts to more than the discovery of another "extremeophile" found under a rock or at the bottom of a lake or something that will simply highlight the extraordinary diversity and adaptability of Earth-based life pointing to a higher probability that life in the Universe blah blah blah etc etc.
ZeroID and Les are probably on the right track. One of the younger researchers at the announcement specialises in alternative biochemistries. See her CV at: http://www.ironlisa.com/cv/
Below is the abstract from a paper she lead-authored last year.
Did nature also choose arsenic?
Felisa Wolfe-Simon, Paul C.W. Davies and Ariel D. Anbar
Abstract
All known life requires phosphorus (P) in the form of inorganic phosphate (PO43− or Pi) and phosphate-containing organic molecules. Pi serves as the backbone of the nucleic acids that constitute genetic material and as the major repository of chemical energy for metabolism in polyphosphate bonds. Arsenic (As) lies directly below P on the periodic table and so the two elements share many chemical properties, although their chemistries are sufficiently dissimilar that As cannot directly replace P in modern biochemistry. Arsenic is toxic because As and P are similar enough that organisms attempt this substitution. We hypothesize that ancient biochemical systems, analogous to but distinct from those known today, could have utilized arsenate in the equivalent biological role as phosphate. Organisms utilizing such ‘weird life’ biochemical pathways may have supported a ‘shadow biosphere’ at the time of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth or on other planets. Such organisms may even persist on Earth today, undetected, in unusual niches.
(Received July 16 2008)
(Accepted September 26 2008)
(Online publication January 30 2009)
We surely all live in hope that perhaps it won't be just another Microbe discovery etc etc, call me an optimist i like to think positive thoughts always and dream perhaps.
I may not speak for "All" but surely Astronomically minded people knowing the vast distances between the stars and the sheer amount of them out there would have to conclude that mathematically it is ridiculous to consider life does not exist in some form even if it is the simplest form.
Let's hope NASA has something interesting to say tomorrow morning.
We surely all live in hope that perhaps it won't be just another Microbe discovery etc etc, call me an optimist i like to think positive thoughts always and dream perhaps.
Live on in hope then by all means but you are about to be disappointed I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAstroGuy
I may not speak for "All" but surely Astronomically minded people knowing the vast distances between the stars and the sheer amount of them out there would have to conclude that mathematically it is ridiculous to consider life does not exist in some form even if it is the simplest form.
I tend to approach this question in a factual, non-emotional way. If we're not alone in the Universe so far as intelligent life goes, I'm completely fine with that. On the other hand, if we are alone I am completely fine with that too. It does not affect me in an emotional way at all.
Mine is only one person's opinion (and without empirical evidence all that remains are intelligent guesses and speculation), but I think life is pretty rare in the Universe, while intelligent life (especially space-faring races) is extraordinarily rare -- possibly singular. I think in our galaxy the number of civiilisations is likely to be <10 with the smallest single digit numbers the most likely. 1 only (counting us) is actually quite likely. I know people will say that that'd be a shame if true and awful news, but personally I can't understand why.
I'd suggest if you are interested in the subject (who here isn't), have a gander at "The Rare Earth Hypothesis" by Ward and Brownlee. Excellent reading.
I'd suggest if you are interested in the subject (who here isn't), have a gander at "The Rare Earth Hypothesis" by Ward and Brownlee. Excellent reading.
The mathematical probability of life existing elsewhere is based on a logical fallacy: That because life, intelligent or otherwise, exists here, it MUST exist elsewhere. Yet there is no proof of this, and indeed the opposite is true. Even the oft-quoted aphorism that "anything not forbidden is compulsory", fails to take into account that it need not be compulsory more than once!
As to Conan the Bacterium and his friends: all extremeophiles on earth evolved from earlier organisms which began in much less hostile environments. That doesn't mean that similar organisms have NOT evolved on other planets, in similarly unpleasant circumstances, it just means that its a bad idea to suppose that it HAS evolved.
I think that you can also say that for intellegent life not to exist saying that Earth and only Earth in the universe holds life of any type is simply impossible for me to believe. When
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there are about 100 thousand million stars in the Milky Way alone
and
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With a conservative estimate of three planets per star (some could have many more, some would have none at all) this puts the estimated number of planets into millions of billions.
How can we seriously believe that in all those planets we are the only ones out there its like saying if we see a single ant on an ant hill that it is the only one there. Very difficult for me to believe about the ants or the possibility of life out there somewhere.
Last edited by supernova1965; 02-12-2010 at 08:09 PM.
