4 Votes
Alien Life Found in California
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When we talk about life, what do we mean? For every known living organism on Earth that means something that is made up of Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. Until now, that is.
NASA scientist Felisa Wolfe Simon has discovered a completely new organism that is, as NASA is saying, “life as we do not know it.” The bacteria, known as GFAJ-1, is capable of using arsenic to build its DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes. Yeah, that arsenic… the one that is poisonous to almost every organism on the planet, save a few that can breathe it without quickly proceeding to death.
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This opens up a whole new arena for the search for extra-terrestrial live. Now we can start looking for life on planets that are not Earth-like. No longer must the search for life be circumscribed by the strict parameters of our little planet. With larger search parameters, I wonder what we can find? Maybe the aliens won’t be humanoid with blue skin and antennae…
Similarly tagged OmniNerd content:
- Curiosity Lands on Mars, by VnutZ 10 months ago
- First Habitable Kepler Planet, by VnutZ over 1 year ago
- Gravitionally Lensed Quasar, by VnutZ over 1 year ago
- Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth , by Brandon about 3 years ago
This article was edited after publication by the author on 02 Dec 2010.
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Not everything it's hyped to be by Jackson
Acccording to Pharyngula, this is not as exciting as my linked article suggests. Since arsenic is fairly similar to phosphorus (chemically), he says it is no surprise it can be substituted in some chemical reactions.
Still, it is an interesting find, if not the universe altering one originally suggested. I mean, come on… the bacteria is using a poison. That is cool.
Scientific Rejection by Jackson
Rosie Redfield, a microbiology professor at the University of British Columbia, has posted a rebuttal to this report. She and others (including Alex Bradley, a Harvard microbiologist) feel that this experiment was fatally flawed.
Their arguments are pretty interesting as well.