NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery Details Embargoed Till 12/02

[Jacoba]

NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery; Details Embargoed Until Dec 2

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-167_Astrobiology.html

[Jacoba]

I know its not X-Plane or SIM related, but this could be interesting, if not exciting!

[Oliver]

Definitely will try to tune in, thanks for posting!

[Ben Russell]

Screw xmas morning. This is killing me. 

[Jack Skieczius]

Screw xmas morning. This is killing me.   

Ditto,

Definitely setting my alarm right now, so i wont forget.

[Jacoba]

Lots of people theorizing that they've discovered arsenic on Titan and detected chemical evidence of bacteria utilizing it for photosynthesis.

Not as sexy as ET's DVD collection but wild nonetheless.

Also news from Cassini http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Cassini_Finds_Warm_Cracks_On_Enceladus_999.html

Atmosphere of Alien Super-Earth Revealed for First Time

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/super-earth-exoplanet-atmosphere-101201.html

[Jacoba]

It appears that NASA has discovered a microbe on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html

So I guess my question is,,,, is this a second tree of life on Earth or just some little critter that has developed the ability to use arsenic is this manor?

[Jacoba]

The idea of alternative biochemistries for life is common in science fiction," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Until now a life form using arsenic as a building block was only theoretical, but now we know such life exists in Mono Lake."

??? ??? ???

Seems second tree to me...

[Simmo W]

I'd like to announce that today I discovered life in a previously uninhabitable place - my sneakers! ;D

Still, it does have far reaching implications, if we can find an arsenic-based planet

The idea of alternative biochemistries for life is common in science fiction," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Until now a life form using arsenic as a building block was only theoretical, but now we know such life exists in Mono Lake."

??? ??? ???

Seems second tree to me...

[kiofka]

It seems pretty arrogant to think that we would be the only planet in a googlagillion to support life.

And to find microbes... It's like cavemen discovering a rock.

I'm certain of the incredible numbers of life forms out there.

I'm also certain intelligent life is out there as well. (Maybe come and gone already)

Contact with another intelligent species, whether it's happened or will happen, is a whole different debate.

Oh yeah, we're not alone.

[Jack Skieczius]

It seems pretty arrogant to think that we would be the only planet in a googlagillion to support life.

And to find microbes... It's like cavemen discovering a rock.

I'm certain of the incredible numbers of life forms out there.

I'm also certain intelligent life is out there as well. (Maybe come and gone already)

Contact with another intelligent species, whether it's happened or will happen, is a whole different debate.

Oh yeah, we're not alone.

I am one of those believers that say, if the extra solar intelligent beings come down to earth now and say, "Hello!", then i bet all hell would break loose as everything most people believe in will be put to the test and a lot of people will resist this change. not saying it wouldbt be cool as hell to me, but even i would question a few things. what i am saying, is humanity just isn't ready for ET, that is unless your name is Elliot.

I did watch a little bit of the discussion on NASA TV. I have to say one thing, is everyone one there seemed like your stereotypical science nerd, especially when they were talking about Star Trek.

[Jacoba]

Arsenic Life Is Nice; Living Clouds Are Nicer

Ok, now we have arsenic life. But here's a much wilder thought: How about living clouds?

I assume you've read the news. To life as we know it, with carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, sulfur and phosphorous, we can now add life with arsenic. Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon fed a little bacterium daily doses of the dread element, and the little guy slurped it up, chucked most of its phosphorous, and became an arsenic-creature. "It's a really nice story about adaptability of our life form," chemist Gerald Joyce told the New York Times, "It gives food for thought about what might be possible in another world."

Well, here's one possibility. The otherwise sane and respected astrobiologist David Grinspoon has been considering that under the right circumstances, clouds could become living things. With intelligence, even. Carl Sagan thought so, too.

A living thing, it is thought, needs to feed, grow, copy and evolve and persist. It needs some kind of shape. Clouds can do all that, says David Grinspoon. Though they look hazy and random here on Earth, they contain levels of order, they hold themselves together, they move around, they have routines. They can, in theory, produce increasingly complex forms of themselves.

Says Grinspoon: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2010/12/03/131783352/arsenic-life-is-nice-living-clouds-are-nicer

[Paraffin]

Guys, this is not confirmed as arsenic life. It's all way overblown. The group behind the study are getting a lot of flack from others in the field, for doing "science by press release." See this:

http://www.slate.com/id/2276919/pagenum/all/#p2

NASA is getting a little desperate for good press these days. On the other hand, there actually was good space-related news today. The SpaceX private launch company got Dragon into orbit, and back down safely. First launch to orbit and recovery by a private U.S. company:

http://www.spacex.com/

[Kesomir]

Yeah, Thunderf00t explains it well on youtube