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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

NASA to make an announcement shortly on ET life..

Erik Franzén said:
OK. So not that exciting. NASA, stop the hype. Get back to doing stuff again.
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Hehe. It is funny...they make a rather uninformative announcement that they will later on be making an announcement that has something to do with astrobiology.

And so naturally, the media and blogs go nuts. Conjecture ranges widely - have have made contact with a sentient alien race? Have we found a lush habitable exoplanet? Will we be living on Luna/Mars in the next 20 years?

Then the big announcement. Really, we just found out about a new type of bacteria on our own planet that is really different from everything else we have found so far, so we think it might have come from elsewhere. Maybe. Or maybe it's just funky. We don't really know.

PR indeed.

Edit: Also, as I read these announcements it strikes me that this discovery seems to be "redefining" how we are looking for extraterrestrial life by broadening the scope of what seems to be a possible habitable environment. I wonder how close-minded scientists are about the possibility of organisms living in environments which are vastly different from our own. I guess one has to find some sort of middle-ground of possibility. It just seems that NASA is rather conservative about it.
 
On the other hand, this is a good announcement as well. If our future young scientists hear about this at school, they will grow thinking outside the carbon box or whatever box we were in. It feels like a duh moment, but duh moments are also the first step. Recognizing limitations allows growth. Maybe they are "too" focused on their impact to worry about how they come across. :)
 
This discovery is extraordinary, they are talking about the fabric of life, and in this case one that is different than anything they have ever seen or known. The actual components of the DNA strand of this living organism is different than anything and everything else on this planet. There is no other living entity as far as all mankind knows that incorporates arsenic into its genetic structure. All living things have essential genetic components in common and this one is fundamentally different. This is an amazing discovery to those who know how amazing it really is.
 
Michael Olsen said:
Then the big announcement. Really, we just found out about a new type of bacteria on our own planet that is really different from everything else we have found so far, so we think it might have come from elsewhere. Maybe. Or maybe it's just funky. We don't really know.

PR indeed.
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Definitely not on the scale of HDRx
 
you have to realize that NASA is getting close to more budget cuts, and trying to figure out what funds they will get and where they will go. they want everyone to know they are discovering new things. you can't blame them for trying to get the public's attention with any little thing, and i wouldn't even call this a little thing from a scientific point of view, it is a very peculiar finding, the implications of which cause us to re-examine our previous model of life, the universe, and everything!
 
Doesn't really surprise me. I'm sure there is a considerable amount of undiscovered life on earth in places scientists haven't even attempted searching; The Australian continent has much potential but is largely unexplored because of its harsh climate.
They haven't even found a Bigfoot specimen yet! :thumbdown:
 
Owen James said:
This discovery is extraordinary, they are talking about the fabric of life, and in this case one that is different than anything they have ever seen or known. The actual components of the DNA strand of this living organism is different than anything and everything else on this planet. There is no other living entity as far as all mankind knows that incorporates arsenic into its genetic structure. All living things have essential genetic components in common and this one is fundamentally different. This is an amazing discovery to those who know how amazing it really is.
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See the problem is that they honestly believed something like this couldn't exist (on other planets, much less our own) in the first place.

Whenever I've heard scientists/astrobiologists on docs talk about how life needs certain things to form - water, carbon, etc. - I instinctively think, "who says those are requirements?" This "discovery" just shows how close minded most (nasa?) scientists are... Kind of like the film industry, actually.
 
Rob Delafonte said:
Whenever I've heard scientists/astrobiologists on docs talk about how life needs certain things to form - water, carbon, etc. - I instinctively think, "who says those are requirements?"
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I knowwww!! Makes me wanna whack them on the head (gently, and after saying thank you for their dedication) each and every time they talk like that.

But: Well first of all of course I am no scientist, and secondly I do understand that chemistry and physics will remain equal throughout the universe... at least in the dimension we call "reality". So I can see how certain elements will be able to interact in certain ways, so I assume this is about likeliness, probability of the engine turning on. But what if there was an arsenic world out there, with the same or "better" temperatures and whatever other necessary factors as in Mono lake?

I can also see how scientists are trying so hard to comb and understand the portion of what's out there at our reach. Since that's what we have at our reach, or what we can see for now, the focus becomes multiplied.

Also, I suppose many scientists are more inclined to pragmatic thought than intangible searching... though we have our Einsteins, those who understand creativity is the lightning bolt that will illuminate the landscape outside the dark box we are "stuck" in, which we call our home, our reality. But every time we get a glimpse of something new, others who enjoy doing so can "go there", comb these areas of the space-time that as they become accessible to our senses, well, only if our technical ingenuity was out-of-the-box enough to make them accessible to our senses at all in the first place.
 
Because in science you educated guesses, guesses based on what you already know and have observed. Not guesses based on what-ifs and imagination. That's the screenwriter's job.
 
Roberto Lequeux said:
I wonder if you missed the point though. How can you measure something if you aren't even aware of it? :)
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No, the point is the universe is a very big place. To find life, one has to make judgements to shorten the haystack. It's a given that things may be overlooked, but it's a statistically necessary chance to take.
 
I am very pragmatic myself and I understand your viewpoint. However those doing the out of the box thinking are generally other people, those with personalities more suited for that sort of work. It is a symbiotic relationship where some focus on analysis, and are proud to delineate all that is accessible. Of course I didn't mean to offend one or the other, and I am sorry if it sounded like that. Everyone has their strengths and purpose, and nobody is better than the other. After all, we are but cells in a social organism striving to survive in our environment.
 
Roberto Lequeux said:
I am very pragmatic myself and I understand your viewpoint. However those doing the out of the box thinking are generally other people, those with personalities more suited for that sort of work. It is a symbiotic relationship where some focus on analysis, and are proud to delineate all that is accessible. Of course I didn't mean to offend one or the other, and I am sorry if it sounded like that. Everyone has their strengths and purpose, and nobody is better than the other. After all, we are but cells in a social organism striving to survive in our environment.
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I wasn't offended. This is a good back and forth! :beer:
 
One way or an other this release is helpful. A formal NASA announcement helps ensure the word spreads through the scientific community. I am no scientist but I imagine it is kinda like Oprah talking about your book. You may or may not think she is a golden oracle of wisdom, but you will hear about the book if she talks about it. :)
 
Vladimir Cassel said:
No, the point is the universe is a very big place. To find life, one has to make judgements to shorten the haystack. It's a given that things may be overlooked, but it's a statistically necessary chance to take.
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See, and I would think because the universe is so big, trying to find life that is exactly like our own is super limiting. You broaden the scope and the universe is so big that you're more likely to find something/anything.

It's all a wash anyway, though, right? I mean, finding simple life (single cell organisms or bacteria or similar) isn't really what non-scientists care about. I mean I want to find ET life that I can interact with...and I'm not even talking sentient life; a space dog or space horse from another planet would still be cool even if you had to wear a spacesuit around it because it exhaled arsenic or something.
 
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