

Has NASA discovered extraterrestrial life? - n-named
http://kottke.org/10/11/has-nasa-discovered-extraterrestrial-life

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wooster
No.

NASA has started using these press conferences for what would be considered
minor discoveries by most astronomy departments worldwide. They're doing this
because they're afraid of losing funding and relevance, and think that by
hyping their discoveries they can postpone the inevitable attrition of their
funding and projects.

Look back at their recent press conferences. It's like the boy who cried
'wolf'. When you embargo the announcement of _extremely_ _minor_ scientific
advancements and make a big deal out of them, you contribute to the abrogation
of scientific discoveries which actually matter. NASA is becoming toxic to
scientific advancement and federal funding of scientific programs.

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n-named
Thank you. Glad I posted this because of your comment.

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diiq
I suspect it NASA's press conference will be related to this:

[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini...](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20101126.html)

Oxygen and CO2 on Rhea; suggesting an easy route to complex chemistry near gas
giants (which are so much easier to find outside our solar system).

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dguaraglia
No. Most probably they'll announce that some kind of geological formation in
mars would be compatible and/or similar to some known life-bearing formations
on Earth. Something along the lines of "the Mars Polar Cap hosts X amount of
carbon" or "nitrogen concentration on soil sample could be compatible with
vegetable life".

Don't get me wrong, I still think that, on their own, these discoveries are
amazing and the fact that we _do_ have a bunch of robots roaming Mars is quite
encouraging. But perfectly good science is not as exciting as the news media
would like it to be.

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RiderOfGiraffes
Official announcement: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1963296>

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cloudwalking
Photosynthesis using arsenic? Anybody know the biology behind this?

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dotBen
During 'regular' photosynthesis water (H2O) is broken down during Oxygen
Evolving Complex to leave the individual atoms (H and O) along with protons
and electrons which fuel photosynthesis.

The idea behind the arsenic theory is that arenate, which has 4 O atoms, could
provide act as a suitable substrate during Oxygen Evolving Complex to provide
the same protons and electron break down.

There is also a parallel chain of thought that arsenic is similar in its
makeup to phosphorus, which is needed to create DNA and other genetic
material, and so it could help cell division. However, I'm doubtful as arsenic
is toxic in any real quantity and thus would be counterproductive to that.

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electromagnetic
Arsenic is only toxic to our understanding of biology. Some extremophiles have
unbelievable resistance to heavy metals, so I wouldn't doubt some
configuration of _our_ biology would be resistant to arsenic.

However, with the problems arsenic causes blocking PDH enzyme, causing H2O2 in
the cells and a huge list else like IIRC thiamine deficiency.

Then again, life exists in such a broad range of conditions that I find it
hard to believe that life couldn't adapt to life with arsenic for one main
reason. If it is using arsenic as a DNA base, it means it is sequestering the
arsenic rather than leaving it in the cells to do damage.

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electricsheep
In retrospect, this is priceless...

