It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/nasa-finds-new-life/

Article is a little confusing at first: This is a form of life that was found on Earth, just in an unexpected place; calling it "new" is less accurate than calling it "newly discovered." Still super amazing.

The only questions I have about this new life form are is it delicious or can I berkeley it

Disappointing; I was hoping for some green-skinned vixens:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: The only questions I have about this new life form are is it delicious, can I berkeley it, or better yet, both?

Fixed that for you.

oldsaw wrote: Disappointing; I was hoping for some green-skinned vixens:

Missed one

That last one...... yep, I'd go martian for that last one.

Blood Beast?

(one of the funniest movies I've seen MST3K rip on... Night of the Blood Beast)

mndsm wrote: That last one...... yep, I'd go martian for that last one.

I've always preferred vixens (of any color) who, some would think, could use a sammich or two.

That last one looks like she has camped next to an inter-gallactic Krispy Kreme..........

oldsaw wrote:

mndsm wrote: That last one...... yep, I'd go martian for that last one.

I've always preferred vixens (of any color) who, some would think, could use a sammich or two. That last one looks like she has camped next to an inter-gallactic Krispy Kreme..........

Horrible picture. See her in the movie itself, and it's a whole different ballgame. Curves where they need to be, and all that. Not to mention, she's a redhead. Always was a sucker for a redhead.

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

Long story short, this bacteria seems to substitute phosphorous with arsenic in the production of basic building blocks such as proteins, cell membranes and maybe even DNA.

RoosterSauce wrote: More official information. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html Long story short, this bacteria seems to substitute phosphorous with arsenic in the production of basic building blocks such as proteins, cell membranes and maybe even DNA.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you cannot eat it nor berkeley it.

crap. Here i got all hungry, and it's full of arsenic.

TJ wrote:

RoosterSauce wrote: More official information. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html Long story short, this bacteria seems to substitute phosphorous with arsenic in the production of basic building blocks such as proteins, cell membranes and maybe even DNA.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you cannot eat it nor berkeley it.

That's not gonna stop someone from trying. Just you wait.

We're all used to seeing the picture of DNA as a twisty ladder. Each "side" of the ladder is normally made of sugar-phosphate-sugar-phospate.....etc. The "rungs" of the ladder are the nitrogenous bases (the important bit that comprise the genetic code.)

If we can replace the phosphates on the side of the molecule with arsenic, there are lots of things that are possible. Why a sugar? (A ringed silicone molecule should work OK.....) What about the codons? [+] Why do they have to be three bases long? Some other species might have ribosomes with a different number of spaces.....

Basically, life on other planets could be totally different, chemically. If this is legit, it is a big deal.

[+] - If you think of the nitrogenous bases as "letters", the codons are three letter "words" that are the name of an amino acid. (i.e. every three "rungs of the ladder" are a "word".) The machinery that reads these words (ribosomes) hooks amino acids together to make a protein. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5udFjWDM3E

Scott Lear wrote:

I think Roger sneezed.

(edited for better pic of Roger)

I think this is what will cause the zombie apocalypse.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you cannot eat it nor berkeley it."

"That's not gonna stop someone from trying. Just you wait."

Ye gods, it'll only be minutes before Rule 43 takes effect, won't it?

mndsm wrote:

oldsaw wrote:

mndsm wrote: That last one...... yep, I'd go martian for that last one.

I've always preferred vixens (of any color) who, some would think, could use a sammich or two. That last one looks like she has camped next to an inter-gallactic Krispy Kreme..........

Horrible picture. See her in the movie itself, and it's a whole different ballgame. Curves where they need to be, and all that. Not to mention, she's a redhead. Always was a sucker for a redhead.

Me too

Some tin-foil-hatters will probably be ranting about how this must be extra-terrestrial, which is why it's so weird. That's B.S. Maybe not even in an X-Files invasion way, but just in a "asteroid crashed here" way. Doesn't matter.

What's really weird is that this is quite probably 100% terrestrial. As in, our planet produced two different basic structures for life.

Think of it this way, this stuff does not have DNA. Whatever it is, it needs a new name, because it's not the same substance.

mrhappy wrote:

oldsaw wrote: Disappointing; I was hoping for some green-skinned vixens:

Missed one

I'm feeling a little more interested in the whole concept of "Going Green".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhuzjkE65f8

That's pretty much the coolest thing I've read in a while. There's always something awesome to be discovered in nature

Salanis wrote: Think of it this way, this stuff does not have DNA. Whatever it is, it needs a new name, because it's not the same substance.

"arseno-DNA" is the term I've heard....but we still haven't confirmed that the stuff exists.

Once again proving that science (and scientists) doesn't know what they THINK they know.