Nasa raises hopes of finding extra-terrestrials, discovery of 'alien' bacteria, survives in arsenic

Daily Mail ^ | 12/1/10

[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.

[SunkenCiv]

• Backing off an arsenic-eating claim (NASA search for life)
• Scientists: NASA's alleged discovery of arsenic-based life is crap

[jda]

It seems to me that one needs to ask the question: "Why are they so intent on finding some reason for believing there is a possibility (regardless of how remote) that there is life on other planets?"

My answer is that, if they can do so, they can dispel, at least partially (if only in their own minds), the notion that Earth was uniquely created.

One small example of this special creation is the totally unique angularity between the Earth, Sun and Moon, which results in phenomena that occur during lunar and solar eclipses (or is it eclipsi?) that cannot be observed anywhere else in the universe.