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Life from Outer Space

Newspaper current event by gnifyus on 14 August 2007, tagged as space and bio

One of the 35 experiments slated to be performed on a European Space Agency mission called Foton M3 will be to drop a rock formed from lake sediment from space to earth to determine if the molecules found in life-forms can survive the fiery heat of reentry. Molecules such as steranes and hopanes, which are derived from cell walls, are thought to be excellent biomarkers because unlike DNA, they can stay around for millions or even billions of years. The experiment hopes to determine if life could possibly have "hitched a ride" from one planet to another in debris from asteroid strikes and other collisions.

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