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Nature News: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101202/full/news.2010.645.html http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101202/full/news.2010.645.ht... [Edit] They are cal
by gort 16y ago
Nature News:
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101202/full/news.2010.645.html http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101202/full/news.2010.645.ht...
[Edit] They are calling it a member of the Halomonadaceae, which means it is descended from the common ancestor of that group, and so does not represent a second, independant origin of life.
- amichail 16y agoWhy is this interesting at all if it is not an independent origin of life?
- gort 16y agoPhosphorous is used by all previously known life in a number of ways, including as part of the DNA backbone. If there's something that uses something else, it's a big deal.
- alexophile 16y agoIt's a proof-of-concept for radical new ideas of where/how life can form. For instance, Titan has a thick atmosphere and lakes of liquid ethane/methane. If Arsenic-based life exists, could there be Methane-based life in those depths?
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- Shamiq 16y agoThe issues may be different, but the doubt that is raised now in the one true way path of life are real.
- alexophile 16y agoRight, I guess 'methane-based life' was poor wording. Suffice it to say that this discovery implies that life can form in ways and places that we've never considered.
- vinhboy 16y agoYou know what I don't get. Why is this NASA news?
- cryptoz 16y agoThe scientists that made the discovery work for NASA. Edit: That is to say, the work that led to this discovery was funded by NASA, and was done to gain information about how to look for life on other planets.