Nasa to make announcement about possible ET life find on Thursday

Did E.T. finally phone home?



The truth is out there.

NASA is planning to hold a news conference Thursday "to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life."

The Web is abuzz with speculation about what that cryptic phrase might mean.

"Our guess is that this astrobiological discovery will have something to do with water, evolutionary biology, and aquatic bacteria," the Geek Tech bloggers at PCWorld say.

Gaming and fantasy site Kotaku thinks it could mean life-friendly conditions - or even living organisms - have been found on Saturn's moon Rhea.

"There's only one thing this could mean: NASA has aliens. Now let's just hope they're the friendly, ET-kind of visitors, and not the warlike Klingon types," Stephen Losey wrote (tongue-in-cheek) on FederalTimes.com.

Blogger Jason Kottke analyzed the lineup of scientists slated to appear at the press conference and came up with his own conclusion:

"If I had to guess at what NASA is going to reveal on Thursday, I'd say that they've discovered arsenic on Titan and maybe even detected chemical evidence of bacteria utilizing it for photosynthesis (by following the elements). Or something like that."

Leave it to Discover.com's level-headed Phil Plait to throw a wet space blanket on the hype over the possible discover of extraterrestrial life:

"It seems really unlikely; I don't think they would announce it in this way," he writes. "It would've been under tighter wraps, for one thing. It's more likely they've found a new way life can exist and that evidence for these conditions exists on other worlds. But without more info, I won't speculate any farther than that."

Hmfph. Party pooper.

Did E.T. finally phone home? – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Goooood for them...

NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worlds

Alien life form ‘is here on Earth’ | Skymania News and Guide

NASA scientists will announce a major discovery this Thursday that could boost the chance of life on other worlds. Experts believe they will say they have found a new form of life on Earth that is completely alien to anything known before.

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Twitter is going berserk tonight, with rumors that NASA is planning to announce the discovery of arsenic-based life on earth. For those who haven't taken biology in a while, all known life is based on carbon atoms (i.e. DNA). If this is what NASA announces tomorrow, it is a huge bombshell that will make us question everything we've previously thought about how life evolves. Arsenic-based life would be totally alien from anything previously known to science.

Furthermore, it would mean that life evolved at least TWICE on earth...meaning that abiogenesis is probably far more common than previously thought.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Kandahar said:

Alien life form ‘is here on Earth’ | Skymania News and Guide



Twitter is going berserk tonight, with rumors that NASA is planning to announce the discovery of arsenic-based life on earth. For those who haven't taken biology in a while, all known life is based on carbon atoms. If this is what NASA announces tomorrow, it is a huge bombshell that will make us question everything we've previously thought about how life evolves. Arsenic-based life would be totally alien from anything previously known to science.

Furthermore, it would mean that life evolved at least TWICE on earth...meaning that abiogenesis is probably far more common than previously thought.

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Holy ****!

I want more info...

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

NASA has called a press conference for 2PM tomorrow to announce...whatever it is they're going to announce. You can watch it live on their website here: NASA - NASA TV

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

The speaker's list that NASA has released for tomorrow's announcement lends some credence to this rumor.

Participants are:
- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla.
- James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe

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The first three speakers are obvious choices. The last two are more interesting. What is a guy from the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution doing on this list? Similarly, why is a professor from ASU (whose research includes studying why certain chemical elements are more life-favorable than others) scheduled to speak?

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

OR maybe they are going to say that WE are the alien lifeform on Earth. They have speculated that.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Kandahar said:

Alien life form ‘is here on Earth’ | Skymania News and Guide



Twitter is going berserk tonight, with rumors that NASA is planning to announce the discovery of arsenic-based life on earth. For those who haven't taken biology in a while, all known life is based on carbon atoms (i.e. DNA). If this is what NASA announces tomorrow, it is a huge bombshell that will make us question everything we've previously thought about how life evolves. Arsenic-based life would be totally alien from anything previously known to science.

Furthermore, it would mean that life evolved at least TWICE on earth...meaning that abiogenesis is probably far more common than previously thought.

Click to expand...

Any word on what this mean for people who don't believe in evolution?

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

If it is a non-carbon based life form (or some other sort of independently arising form of life) it would be the single coolest discovery to happen during my lifetime. Can't wait to see what they reveal

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Gray_Fox_86 said:

OR maybe they are going to say that WE are the alien lifeform on Earth. They have speculated that.

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I doubt they've reached any conclusions that life came from space. Their press release says they're going to announce something that will "impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." If they had actually discovered that earth-based life IS extraterrestrial, I doubt they'd be so coy.

I think that if they do indeed announce that arsenic-based life is here on earth, it probably REDUCES the likelihood that life came to earth from space, because it means that abiogenesis isn't really that unusual.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Okay lets make a deal! Kandahar update us tomorrow with what NASA says by posting here, cause some of us live in Europe, and we can discuss then.

This seems interesting although i gotta admit im skeptical!

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Kandahar said:

I doubt they've reached any conclusions that life came from space. Their press release says they're going to announce something that will "impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." If they had actually discovered that earth-based life IS extraterrestrial, I doubt they'd be so coy.

I think that if they do indeed announce that arsenic-based life is here on earth, it probably REDUCES the likelihood that life came to earth from space, because it means that abiogenesis isn't really that unusual.

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waits to be disappointed.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

SheWolf said:

Any word on what this mean for people who don't believe in evolution?

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"Part of God's plan."

You can't reason someone out of an opinion they didn't reason themselves into. People who don't believe science aren't going to start because you showed them more science. If it's the arsenic-based life thing, holy ****. I hope it's not something lame like "Oh hey we found microbes that can eat arsenic." That would be boring.

Please don't be boring, NASA.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

OH **** they found me and foiled my plans for galactic conquest...I'm outa here:bolt

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Yep, it looks like that's what it is. The Daily Mail is now confirming that NASA is set to announce the discovery of arsenic-based life in Mono Lake in Yosemite National Park. However, it's not arsenic-based in the sense that it has arsenic instead of DNA...it's arsenic-based in the sense that it uses arsenic for energy instead of phosphorus like all other known life forms.

This means that life evolved on at least two separate occasions on earth...which means that it's virtually certain to evolve on any life-friendly world.

Astrobiology findings: 'Alien' bacteria that lives on arsenic found in Californian lake opens up search for life on other planets | Mail Online

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

So what exactly did they find thats arsenic based?

I thought all known life forms use protein for energy?

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Kandahar said:

Yep, it looks like that's what it is. The Daily Mail is now confirming that NASA is set to announce the discovery of arsenic-based life in Mono Lake in Yosemite National Park. However, it's not arsenic-based in the sense that it has arsenic instead of DNA...it's arsenic-based in the sense that it uses arsenic for energy instead of phosphorous like all other known life forms.

This means that life evolved on two separate occasions on earth...which means that if you have a world with life-friendly conditions, it's virtually certain to evolve.

Astrobiology findings: 'Alien' bacteria that lives on arsenic found in Californian lake opens up search for life on other planets | Mail Online

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YEAH, big announcement they announce it before they promise to.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Kandahar said:

Yep, it looks like that's what it is. The Daily Mail is now confirming that NASA is set to announce the discovery of arsenic-based life in Mono Lake in Yosemite National Park. However, it's not arsenic-based in the sense that it has arsenic instead of DNA...it's arsenic-based in the sense that it uses arsenic for energy instead of phosphorous like all other known life forms.

This means that life evolved on two separate occasions on earth...which means that life-friendly planets are virtually certain to actually have life.

Astrobiology findings: 'Alien' bacteria that lives on arsenic found in Californian lake opens up search for life on other planets | Mail Online

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Daily Mail? This means it's anything BUT arsenic-based life.

Pleasepleaseplease be right for once, Daily Mail.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

kaya'08 said:

So what exactly did they find thats arsenic based?

I thought all known life forms use protein for energy?

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That's what makes this so ****ing cool.

Supposedly, they found microbes.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Deuce said:

That's what makes this so ****ing cool.

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Kandahar said phosphorus.

Are you guys like professors or something?

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

SheWolf said:

Any word on what this mean for people who don't believe in evolution?

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God had the deluxe chemistry set.

on topic.. I would love it to be something as profound as discovering life that uses methane instead of water, although life based on something other than carbon would be a game changer as well. I also think that in all likelihood the speculations are over hyping this, and although tomorrows announcement will be significant, it will not be as monumentally significant as the speculators on the side are wanting it to be

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Deuce said:

Daily Mail? This means it's anything BUT arsenic-based life.

Pleasepleaseplease be right for once, Daily Mail.

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Sorry, I never remember which British newspapers are reliable and which ones suck. I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow unless someone else breaks it before then. :lol:

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

kaya'08 said:

Kandahar said phosphorus.

Are you guys like professors or something?

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Just nerds.

Arsenic-based life would mean there's a totally different way of life forming that we've never seen before, and would be evidence for the idea that life basically evolved on earth twice. This would mean powerful evidence for the idea that life in this universe is probably pretty common.

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

Deuce said:

Just nerds.

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LOL straight to the point.

Arsenic-based life would mean there's a totally different way of life forming that we've never seen before, and would be evidence for the idea that life basically evolved on earth twice.

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So these microbes didn't evolve like we did into carbon creatures? Cool. But just out of curiosity how do you know that this arson based lifeforms aren't the next step in evolution and us carbon beings are actually the ones left behind?
How does life evolving twice on earth mean life is likely elsewhere?

Re: NASA to announce "major discovery" that could boost chances of life on other worl

kaya'08 said:

So these microbes didn't evolve like we did into carbon creatures?
How does life evolving twice on earth mean life is likely elsewhere?

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How do we know that they didn't evolve to mix with us?