We may all be Space aliens

[Maca (Mod)]

There have to be, the universe is so massive that there has to be life somewhere else, even if it is just microscopic. It would be fascinanting to know just how different it is, cause a lot of what shapes organisms in evolution is just chance, so any other type of life, even if it has similarities with life as we know it, should be really different

[Jan Willem]

There's this old experiment in which some scientists simulated the organic sea and lightning etc, and they found that nucleic acids (the components of DNA, RNA) could form spontaneously under these circumstances. Which has always lead people to believe this is the way DNA came into play, and the reason it is nowadays still the essence of every existing organism, and even of viruses. But they had some arguments against this dogma, which I can't remember, but anyway they now assume that RNA was introduced on Earth through these micro-organism infected meteorites. Therefore if we assume extraterrestrial life exists, then we might as well assume it is RNA/DNA based just like we are. I guess this doesn't mean anything though about shape and behaviour etc, as I for one don't have a lot in common with the big oak in front of our house - except of course for being tall

[Maca (Mod)]

I guess so yeah, if RNA has formed spontaneously in a lab, then it's easier to think that it may have formed elsewhere in the universe. It all depends on how much of a unique substance carbon is so that it would be the basic building block of life everywhere. If there's something I lernes studying evolution is that a lot of what happens and has led to life as we know it today on Earth has to do with chance. So I wouldn't rule out a non-carbon-based kind of life, I would just like to know how probable it is or isn't, cause I have no idea.

[stewie Griffin]

Also, we tend to think that most living things need to be carbon based; maybe thats true for here on Earth but who knows how biology works elsewhere in the universe.

[Maca (Mod)]

Exactly!

[Jan Willem]

They now did identify those nebulae as carbon clouds though... but indeed, who knows what other possibilities there are. Only God knows, and chances are he doesn't exist, so what can we say?
Regarding your 2nd last post Alejandro, I'm not an expert in physics/chemistry, but I think carbon is an ideal atom to be the core of macromolecules, because of its structure and chemical properties (e.g. oxygen with 2 bond spots would dramatically decrease the opportunities for building a macromolecule). But like you said, in the end it is all about chance, maybe some other atoms could have made a perfect set to construct the building blocks of life too, C/H/O/N aren't necessarily unique in this.

[Maca (Mod)]

Carbon is the most probable candidate yeah, but I've always wondered about silicon or other elements with 4 electrons in their outer electron levels...

[stewie Griffin]

NASA has found that Martian soil is suitable enough to grow asparagus. I could just imagine some nut wanting to terraform the planet for agriculture like in futurama lol.

Originally Posted by Yahoo7"][FONT='Arial','sans-serif

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Martian dirt is apparently good enough for asparagus to grow in, NASA scientists said Thursday, as they announced the results of a soil analysis collected by the US Phoenix Mars lander.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']"There is nothing about the soil that would preclude life. In fact it seems very friendly," said Samuel Kounaves, the project's lead chemist at the University of Arizona in a telephone press conference.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The soil you have there is the type of soil you have in your backyard," said Kounaves. "You may be able to grow asparagus very well."[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The analysis is based on a cubic centimeter of soil scooped up by the lander's robotic arm and introduced into one of its eight ovens, where it was gradually heated up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Kounaves said his team was "flabbergasted" at the results that came back.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']"We basically have found what appears to be the requirements of the nutrients to support life, past, present or future," said Kounaves.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Scientists found elements in the soil that included magnesium, potassium and sodium. "There are probably other mineral species, we are still working on data," he said.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Kounaves said the analysis results are "one more piece of evidence that there were liquid water action at some point in the history of Mars."[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']"It's very similar to the soil analysis results we got from some dried places on Earth -- this is the very exciting part," Kounaves said.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The sample is from the surface soil that scientists say covers a layer of ice.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']On June 20 NASA scientists announced that the Phoenix Mars lander confirmed a long-held belief that ice is hiding under the surface in the Red Planet's northern region.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The lander's robotic arm started digging trenches into Martian soil after touching down near the planet's north pole on May 25, revealing a white substance that scientists had said was ice.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']"The specific data coming out of instrument has just been spectacular," said William Boynton from the University of Arizona, the lead Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) scientist.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Scientists found no ice in the sample -- not surprising, Boyton said, because it was a surface sample and had been sitting on the TEGA oven for several days, during which time any ice would have evaporated.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Boyton said that scientists had detected small amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) on the surface of the soil particles. This carbon dioxide was released at low temperature in the furnace, while at higher temperatures, the TEGA oven detected a "modest" amount of vapor.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']"What we can say now is that the soil clearly has interacted with water in the past, but we don't know whether that interaction occurred in this particular area in the northern region or if it might have happen elsewhere" and the soil blown over to the site where the Phoenix landed.[/font]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']NASA scientists said they will analyze ice fragments in the TEGA oven over the next weeks.

[/font]

[Maca (Mod)]

I would like to see them grow asparagus on it to see it it's really good enough

And then al the revolts from people claiming it to be dangerous and unnatural.

Isn't Futurama the best? It never fails to crack me up.

[stewie Griffin]

Yeah, they'd proably claim it's harm the natural Martian environment. I need to double check this but I heard someone saying that people had the technology to colonise Mars; not sure on the accuracy. I have mixed feelings about it. Sure its good advancements for mankind but we'd probably just stuff it up like we have with earth.