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Organic Molecule, Amino Acid-Like, Found In Constellation Sagittarius
Science Daily ^ | Mar. 27, 2008 | Science Daily

Posted on 03/28/2008 6:11:45 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick

click here to read article


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To: AntiKev
"Do you REALLY believe that we are the only sentient (I can’t bring myself to say intelligent) life in the entire universe?"

Yes I definitely believe that. Science convinces me of it.

41 posted on 03/28/2008 9:50:47 AM PDT by joebuck (Finitum non capax infinitum!)
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To: mdmathis6

Free beer for eternity!


42 posted on 03/28/2008 9:52:42 AM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: Just another Joe

Yeah, I completely agree with that. Life may take any form inconceivable to man, and we still think that it has to look like us.


43 posted on 03/28/2008 9:54:55 AM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: AntiKev

I am not concerned with finding God. God is everywhere, if you look.

My point was if they can see a molecule light years away, they should have used this to find the Rose Law Firm records . . .


44 posted on 03/28/2008 9:55:38 AM PDT by Petruchio (Democrats are like Slinkies... Not good for anything, but it's fun pushing them down the stairs.)
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To: Chaguito

***The nitrile could be hydrolyzed to an amide under fairly drastic conditions, and from there to carboxylic acid by another hydrolysis.***

Uh............ English please?

:p


45 posted on 03/28/2008 9:57:07 AM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

No it doesn’t. It translates more as “native.”


46 posted on 03/28/2008 9:57:11 AM PDT by patton (cuiquam in sua arte credendum)
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To: joebuck

Well that is your interpretation. Probability theory tells me that we probably aren’t alone (in our sentience) in the universe.


47 posted on 03/28/2008 10:09:07 AM PDT by AntiKev ("The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." - Carl Sagan)
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To: Petruchio

I realized you were trying to be a jokester, but had you read my description, they aren’t actually seeing THIS molecule, they’re seeing the unique signature of this molecule. Trust me we don’t have any optics that can differentiate molecules at hundreds of light years distance.


48 posted on 03/28/2008 10:11:37 AM PDT by AntiKev ("The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." - Carl Sagan)
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To: AntiKev
"Probability theory tells me that we probably aren’t alone (in our sentience) in the universe."

Probability theory says the chances against there being another planet with all the characteristics necessary to sustain life as we know it are greater than the total number of atoms in the universe.

49 posted on 03/28/2008 10:12:04 AM PDT by joebuck (Finitum non capax infinitum!)
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To: joebuck

No it doesn’t. Your statement is nonsensical. You’re trying to relate two unrelatable concepts: a probability and the total number of atoms in the universe (which is unknown to any reasonable degree of certainty). You would be further ahead to relate the probability of finding life with something relevant, like the number of terrestrial planets in the galaxy (currently unknown) or the number of planets overall in the galaxy (also unknown).

Following your thinking to its logical end point (use of as few data points as possible), the best we can come up with right now is that any given planet has a 1/8 probability of containing life, the way we define planets, moons and other solar system bodies. That is obviously way off base, but because the data set is so small we can only make educated guesses.

We have exactly ONE data point with regard to life. Not exactly statistically significant when we’re talking about hundreds of billions of star systems is it now?


50 posted on 03/28/2008 10:30:42 AM PDT by AntiKev ("The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." - Carl Sagan)
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To: Chaguito
Sorry for the jargon. To "hydrolyze" just means to attack the nitrile R-C=N with water H2O to form an amide R-C(=O)NH2. "R" just means the rest of the molecule. The amide is easily attacked by another water molecule to form a carboxylic acid R-C(=O)OH. The -COOH that was mentioned is called a carboxyl group.

In other words, you could make this compound into an amino acid by reacting it with water under drastic conditions. So, the radioastronomers are quite close, in theory, to finding extraterrestrial amino acids.

51 posted on 03/28/2008 1:00:35 PM PDT by Chaguito
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To: wastedyears
Sorry for the jargon. To "hydrolyze" just means to attack the nitrile R-C=N with water H2O to form an amide R-C(=O)NH2. "R" just means the rest of the molecule. The amide is easily attacked by another water molecule to form a carboxylic acid R-C(=O)OH. The -COOH that was mentioned is called a carboxyl group.

In other words, you could make this compound into an amino acid by reacting it with water under drastic conditions. So, the radioastronomers are quite close, in theory, to finding extraterrestrial amino acids.

52 posted on 03/28/2008 1:02:04 PM PDT by Chaguito
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To: MEGoody

light spectrometers


53 posted on 03/28/2008 1:15:41 PM PDT by ffusco (Maecilius Fuscus,Governor of Longovicium , Manchester, England. 238-244 AD)
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To: fortcollins

your a rabid anti-aminite!


54 posted on 03/28/2008 1:17:27 PM PDT by ffusco (Maecilius Fuscus,Governor of Longovicium , Manchester, England. 238-244 AD)
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To: aruanan

Plenty of alcohol at Space Port Moss Isely on Tatooine, just watch out for the Imperial Forces.


55 posted on 03/28/2008 1:21:12 PM PDT by ffusco (Maecilius Fuscus,Governor of Longovicium , Manchester, England. 238-244 AD)
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To: CarrotAndStick

God’s universe is an amazing thing indeed... who would have thought that the seeds of life are scattered among the stars? And who would have thought that someday we’d have the ability to see it? Frankly, stories like this confirm for me the depth and majesty of His creation; only a timeless, eternal God works at this level of complexity and magnitude.


56 posted on 03/28/2008 1:21:59 PM PDT by redpoll
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To: jwalsh07

The carbon chemistry there is the same as it is here. Same universe, same chemistry, same laws of physics.

As far as we can tell.
Don’t get me started on Universal Warming.


57 posted on 03/28/2008 1:24:51 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: AntiKev

You’re right about the scientific method. Trouble comes when people insist that if something is not provable via the scientific method, it must be false or irrelevant. Going down that road can turn science itself into a religion. It’s a path I’ve seen more frequently followed by non-scientists rather than by scientists.


58 posted on 03/28/2008 1:30:43 PM PDT by rightwingcrazy
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To: rightwingcrazy

There’s a reason for that.


59 posted on 03/28/2008 1:53:16 PM PDT by AntiKev ("The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." - Carl Sagan)
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To: patton
No it doesn’t. It translates more as “native.”

I beg to differ, as would the bet on-line dictionary. http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed&sectHdr=on&spellToler=on&search=heimat&relink=on

Hier haben sie leider nicht Recht mein FReund.

60 posted on 03/29/2008 9:01:38 AM PDT by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit (Generally speaking, you get what you deserve.)
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