Posted on 12/01/2010 9:34:48 AM PST by LibWhacker
Incredible microbe found in California lake
Nasa scientists are set to announce that bacteria have been discovered that can survive in arsenic, an element previously thought too toxic to support life, it can be revealed.
In a press conference scheduled for tomorrow evening, researchers will unveil the discovery of the incredible microbe - which substitutes arsenic for phosphorus to sustain its growth - in a lake in California.
The remarkable discovery raises the prospect that life could exist on other planets which do not have phosphorus in the atmosphere, which had previously been thought vital for life to begin.
But it will come as a major disappointment for those who had hoped Nasa was about to announce that it had found life on other planets.
Nasa sparked alien hysteria around the world with its announcement of a major press conference to be held tomorrow.
It induced feverish debate as to whether scientists were about to announce that they had discovered life on other worlds.
But after The Sun broke the embargo on the story this morning, it can be revealed that the truth is rather closer to home.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Interesting, but then they discovered nothing elsewhere, just that some Earth bacteria can live in arsenic.
Fairly weak.
I’m pretty sure I’ve smelled the odor of that bacteria on a New York City subway.
Oh no, here's comes the Title Police!
LibWhacker, you are hearby charged with violation of Chapter LXIV, Verse XLII of the Free Republic Posting Code:
Your sentence commences now.
What is interesting is that there is life on earth that is totally unrelated (no evolutionary conection).
This discovery seems to be another example.
How many completely different types of bacteria are there?
To me, that greatly reduces the possibility of evolution as an explanation for the origin of life....
LOL!
Totally unrelated? Got a citation for that?
Every living organism uses the “Universal Code” or a slight variation of it, that ‘translates’ DNA “genes” into the Amino Acid sequence of a functioning protein molecular machine.
Moreover every living species has similar variations of the same ubiquitous “housekeeping” genes that perform essential cellular functions.
I wish they had said something about its DNA. Is its DNA unrelated to anything else seen on Earth? I’m guessing not. That’s why ‘alien’ was in quotes.
NASA desperately trying to validate its existence to Evolutionists.
But bacteria are not the stuff of alien fantasies.
The Lord’s works are truly miraculous.
I call dibs on all the arsenic planets.
Clearly this article was written without a clue. To wit: “... do not have phosphorus in the atmosphere.”
Yeppers, who knew that *gaseous* phosphorous (or compounds thereof) has LONG been a recognized prerequisite for life?!?!
Hmmm. Let me think back to 9th grade biology. Nope. 10th grade chemistry? Nope.
Geesh. Where do they get these writers?
Here are some generally accepted facts: The phosphorus cycle differs from many other biogeochemical cycles because it does *NOT* involve the atmosphere in any significant way. Phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are usually solids at normal temperatures and pressuresfound on Earth, and any phosphorus in the atmosphere is usually only present in the form of dust particles.
Phosphorus - which is an essential nutrient - is usually found in the form of the phosphate ions (PO43- and HPO42-). It is an important component of nucleic acid molecules (DNA & RNA) and of the cellular energy carrier ATP. Phosphorus is also an important building block of bones and teeth, where it is found in the form of calcium phosphate.
Most phosphates originate as salts in ocean sediments or in rocks. Over time, geological uplift brings these sediments to the surface, and weathering releases the phosphate ions. Plants can then absorb these phosphates from the soil and use it in cellular processes. Phosphate taken up by plants may then be passed on to animals when the plant is consumed by herbivore that, in turn, may be consumed by carnivores. After death, the animal or plant decays, and the phosphates are returned to the soil by way of bacterial decomposition. Runoff from the land may carry leached phosphate back to the ocean, where it eventually enters sediments and is reincorporated into rock.
BTW, I did not bother to read the entire article posted here.
I'm pretty sure they do not know the answer to that. Saw something a while back that said biologists estimate the weight of all the bacteria in the earth's crust (i.e., living in solid rock, for the most part) is greater than the total weight of all the life forms living on the surface and in the oceans.
They were wrong about bacteria not being able to survive in arsenic. This has nothing to do with extra-terrestrials in any way.
This should not raise any hopes of finding any extra-terrestrials. If there are life forms on other planets, they will likely be in a form that we don’t even recognize as life.
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