Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Scientists Confront 'Weird Life' on Other Worlds
SPACE.com ^ | Friday, May 7, 2004 | Leonard David

Posted on 05/08/2004 7:08:27 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon

WASHINGTON, D.C. – What are the limits of organic life in planetary systems? It’s a heady question that, if answered, may reveal just how crowded the cosmos could be with alien biology.

A study arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council (NRC), has pulled together a task group of specialists to tackle the issue of alternative life forms -- a.k.a. "weird life".

To get things rolling, a workshop on the prospects for finding life on other worlds is being held here May 10-11. The meeting is a joint activity of the NRC’s Space Studies Board's Task Group on the Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems and the Committee on the Origin and Evolution of Life.

Sessions on Earth biology, possible Mars habitats, looking for life on Europa -- a moon of Jupiter -- as well as on Titan, a natural satellite of Saturn, are featured topics on the wide-ranging meeting agenda.

Alternative chemistries

The newly formed study group has some big issues to get their arms around.

Possible alternative chemistries for life are to be evaluated, with an eye toward the prospect that non-standard chemistry may support life in known solar system and conceivable extra-solar environments.

Additionally, the task group is to define broad areas that might guide NASA, the National Science Foundation, and other relevant agencies and organizations to fund efforts to expand scientific knowledge in this area.

Overall, the programmatic goal of the study is singling out research avenues that will appraise the likelihood of "non-terran" life and the potential cost needed to find it. From this will come a recommendation "whether the likelihood of finding non-terran life is sufficiently low that NASA should ignore its possibility, or sufficiently high that it should pursue it," according to a study document.

"This is the first NRC project I have been involved with where scientists have actively been volunteering to serve on the committee. We usually have to corner candidates and then start twisting arms," said David Smith, Study Director for the NRC’s Space Studies Board.

"I have been struck from the very beginning that this was a project that could easily be dismissed as science fiction," Smith said. "However, all the scientists we have spoken to about this have required very little persuasion that this was a worthwhile project."

Boxed in beliefs

"We need to get a real understanding of what carbon is capable of in terms of life," said Michael Meyer, Senior Scientist for Astrobiology here at NASA Headquarters.

"We don’t want to end up just focused on only looking for DNA-type molecules…but we do want to look for anything carrying information that is carbon-based."

Meyer said the meeting will bring together some of the brightest minds. Their duty is to think outside the biological box that is the norm. Those discussions can help NASA build the right tools that have the potential of finding something unexpected, he said.

"You have to keep in mind…we know what life is on this planet and we still haven’t figured out how it got started. We have the basic ingredients…but it has proven to be a difficult problem for something that we know exists," Meyer said. "So if you’re going to start looking at things that we don’t know exist, you don’t want to try every possible scenario. You want to make sure you look for things that are reasonably possible."

Search for life…on Earth

There are two things that astrobiology does, Meyer said. One is that it forms the intellectual foundation for our understanding of the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. Part of this intellectual effort is to determine -- as is the case for Titan, a moon of Saturn -- whether or not life is possible there, theoretically.

The other half of the astrobiology effort, Meyer said, is to help guide what kind of life-detection instruments should be made.

"We’re going through a tremendous biological boon in learning so much about life on this planet. A lot of this advancement is due to remarkable techniques that have been developed that are extremely sensitive, but also highly specific," Meyer said.

"But that very sensitivity, because of its specificity, makes it almost useless in the quest to look for life elsewhere. That is, unless life elsewhere is made of exactly the same building blocks that were made out of and using similar sequences. So what we need to do is come up with more general ways to look for life…but increase the sensitivity in order to find that life," Meyer noted.

There is an interesting twist to the search for life elsewhere in the cosmos. You might stumble on previously unknown life right here on Earth.

"If we come up with techniques, knowing the organisms that we’re looking for, we might find some organisms here on Earth previously not known, much less finding things on other planetary bodies," Meyer said.

Weird worlds

"I think this kind of topic has always grasped human imagination," said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas, El Paso. "Now, finally we begin to have some understanding what kind of expectations and constraints on possible extraterrestrial life are reasonable," he told SPACE.com.

The timing is especially suitable, Schulze-Makuch said, because the NASA Cassini spacecraft will arrive in the Saturnian system in July, with Europe’s Huygens probe to be released onto Titan in early 2005.

"Titan is the ‘weirdest’ of planeatary bodies in our Solar System -- meaning different from Earth -- possessing hydrocarbon surface bodies and methane rain. Thus, if life would have gained a foothold on Titan with environmental conditions so different from Earth, it should be ‘weird’ indeed, and should function differently in many ways than we experience life on Earth.

Schulze-Makuch will take part in the upcoming workshop, outlining possible microbial habitats and metabolisms on Titan.

Universal surprises

"This is an important workshop," said Jonathan Lunine, Professor of Planetary Sciences and of Physics, and chair of the Theoretical Astrophysics Program at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He is a guest presenter at next week’s meeting.

"In the search for life elsewhere in the solar system, we tend to plan for life as we know it…even down to the nucleic acid bases or base sequences used in organisms elsewhere," Lunine said. "What if they don't use DNA? Or RNA? Or linear information-bearing polymers? Do they have to use liquid water as the universal biosolvent?" The universe has surprised us before with its variety, Lunine added, in spite of the simplicity and small number of fundamental physical laws.

"Yet our imagination hasn't been very good at envisioning how strange or unexpected life might be," Lunine concluded.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: alien; alienbiology; aliens; alternative; astrobiology; beliefs; biology; biosolvent; carbon; carbonbased; chemistries; chemistry; confront; cosmos; crevolist; dna; et; europa; exist; extraterrestrial; function; habitat; habitats; horta; humanimagination; hydrocarbon; imagination; life; lifedetection; liquid; liquidwater; metabolisms; methane; methanerain; microbial; microbialhabitats; nasa; nonterranlife; nrc; nucleicacid; nucleicacidbases; organic; organiclife; organism; organisms; other; physicallaws; planet; planets; polymer; polymers; rna; scientists; search; silicon; space; strange; sulfur; titan; unexpected; universal; universalbiosolvent; universe; variety; water; weird; weirdlife; worlds
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-123 next last
To: Momaw Nadon
I think this is some sort of noise.

For what purpose is hard to guess. Perhaps desensitization toward disclosure of various ET races.
61 posted on 05/08/2004 10:41:23 AM PDT by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: null and void
Sulfer-based life? Imagine the BO a Sulferite would give off. Come to think of it, there's some bums who hang around the liquor store near my house that just might be sulfer-based life.
62 posted on 05/08/2004 10:45:05 AM PDT by attiladhun2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Momaw Nadon
"Titan is the ‘weirdest’ of planetary bodies in our Solar System -- meaning different from Earth -- possessing hydrocarbon surface bodies and methane rain..." so said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas, El Paso.

I wonder why he doesn't talk about 'Europa' and it's 'Icy Crust'. There are many many pictures online from our Galileo spacecraft that what scientists publicly state are ice floes. JPL has photographic proof of two active volcanoes on 'Io' also, with 75 mile high plumes and 400 km long lava flows. Can there possibly be any type of organic life in ice or lava? You'd think so. Point being, the 'smokers' that we've found rising from the floor of our oceans are surrounded by plants and foreign shaped animals we've never seen before. Surely this is within the realm of possibilities elsewhere on other planetary bodies. Now, whether the average human on earth will even entertain that possibility is whole other issue.

63 posted on 05/08/2004 11:26:46 AM PDT by Pagey (Hillary Rotten is (still ) a Smug and Holier- than- Thou Socialist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


64 posted on 05/08/2004 11:27:34 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon (Goals for 2004: Re-elect President Bush, over 60 Republicans in the Senate, and a Republican House.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: bannie
Because I have no scientific background, I wonder why "carbon based" is the only point of interest. Might'nt there be other bases for life forms?

Well, there are two reasons. The first is that *our* type of life is carbon-based, so we have the most knowledge of that kind -- also we serve as proof that carbaon-based life *is* indeed possible, we're not so certain about any other types.

The second is that carbon is an extremely "versatile" element, capable of combining is so many ways that practically countless different kinds of molecules can be formed from it (thus producing a vast array of molecules that produce the sort of molecular complexity that can make life processes possible. Also carbon makes for molecules that are neither too tightly nor too loosely bound -- molecules that are too tight won't interact easily, and molecules that are too loose will disintegrate spontaneously too often. As far as we know no other element has properties as ideal for life-suitable compounds, although silicon seems to be a decent (although not ideal) second place, and silicon-based life seems to be at least a possibility.

However, even looking at only *chemical* based life may be too restrictive. For all we know life may be possible based on nuclear processes under the right conditions (like inside the sun), or who knows what else.

65 posted on 05/08/2004 11:55:33 AM PDT by Ichneumon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Momaw Nadon
I'll stick to CARBON BASE LIFE in this UNIVERSE for now!


66 posted on 05/08/2004 12:50:21 PM PDT by Major_Risktaker (Oderint dum metuant)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: whereasandsoforth
God, Who is and will always Be a mystery, may have several earth-like experiments going on in the vastness of the endless universe.

What would an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God be ascertaining?

If that is true, my open mind tells me they are far enough apart that they will never know the existence of the others.

How does your open mind tell you that this is so?

67 posted on 05/08/2004 1:19:43 PM PDT by Lester Moore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: bannie
People like to speculate about Si based life forms and even throw around S, B and Ge. However, the chemistry of these elements makes then very unlikely as a basis for life. Carbon is the only element that forms complex stable molecules and easily forms compounds with heteroatoms (N, O, P, S, Se, Fe, Mn, Co, Zn, Ni, Mo, W and even Cl, Br and I. These are required to get a great enough variety for the many chemical reactions required for living systems.

We might find non-DNA/RNA based life and even life forms that do not make or contain lipids, carbohydrates or proteins, but it is extremely unlikely to find non carbon based life.

Since most stars probably have planetay systems, the chance that there is life out there is extremely high, the probability is probably 1.0. I would be glad to be it is carbon based and I would be happy to bet it won't look like me (egad, I hope it won't).

68 posted on 05/08/2004 1:36:08 PM PDT by furball4paws (No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people - HL Mencken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek
Carbon is popular because it has so many "attachment points," making for large numbers of chemical combinations. I don't think helium or copper have that many (though the latter could take the place of iron in osygen-dependent systems).
69 posted on 05/08/2004 1:51:14 PM PDT by Junior (Sodomy non sapiens)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: furball4paws
it is extremely unlikely to find non carbon based life.

Depending on how broadly you define life, it could be argued that it's already right in front of you, or at least the precursors of non-carbon life. Computers have nervous systems, respond to stimuli, make decisions. They can't reproduce without us yet, though they are so complex that we can't build them without their help. They don't have free will, consciousness, or self awareness yet, but neither does a potted plant which is considered alive.

At some point, artificial life ceases to be artificial.


70 posted on 05/08/2004 2:09:52 PM PDT by Reeses
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: Reeses
A blade of grass is a life form. At some point computers will have to be included as well. What's cool about that is we are their God. Will they worship us someday or be embarrassed?

They'll allow all computers to worship us, but mention of us won't be allowed anywhere in public....

Maven
71 posted on 05/08/2004 3:14:33 PM PDT by Maven
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
Zeus-like placemarker
72 posted on 05/08/2004 4:20:18 PM PDT by longshadow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: null and void
And for some reason I'm thinking lithium or magnesium..
*shaking head*
Moving lichen like creatures that explode in the rain!
73 posted on 05/08/2004 4:48:42 PM PDT by Darksheare (You've heard of clothes moths, right? Well, it seems DU'ers have head moths eating their minds away.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Reeses
Be careful about those potted plants!

Audrey II is waiting for you.
74 posted on 05/08/2004 5:51:00 PM PDT by furball4paws (No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people - HL Mencken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: Momaw Nadon
A. C. Clark's "Report on Planet 3" was a fun read. I've never heard any serious scientific argument for/against the possibility of non-organic lifeforms. Any opinionated chemists out there?
75 posted on 05/08/2004 7:49:12 PM PDT by dr_who_2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
True, but that means we'd only consume them in the necessary trace amounts.
76 posted on 05/08/2004 7:50:35 PM PDT by dr_who_2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: Reeses
Remember when Dr. Hawking made himself look pretty goofy by suggesting that computer viruses were a form of life? How many lines of code would it take to make a self-adapting virus? Even then, how easy would it be for us to be able to stop it? Pretty easily, actually. Sure, there's a chance that some goofball has a virus from 1994 on their computer somewhere, but it will have a limited lifespan nevertheless. Sooner or later, someone is going to power down the machine, wipe the hard drive, and trash the computer. No one has designed a virus that can get over that hurdle without the help of humans. It's much easier ( or more attractive to your average cracker) to design a virus that kill itself (ie, one that can bring down a network, attack a power grid, reformat a hard drive). It doesn't matter if all the computers out there have buggy tcp/ip stacks and run windows. I'm not saying if my fractal screensaver suddenly became self-aware, I wouldn't be impressed. We just aren't there yet. We may never be.

As for diseases, cattle, etc, we're getting more efficient at doing what we've been more or less doing for centuries. But is this really "artificial" life we're talking about here? Going back to programming, if I had working source code for any program, I could probably tweak it in all sorts of superficial ways. Doesn't mean that I could write the same thing from scratch. The big difference there is that many could.
77 posted on 05/08/2004 8:23:01 PM PDT by dr_who_2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator
LOL. Got any photos? What kind of freakshow? Why do you live near that?
78 posted on 05/08/2004 9:16:16 PM PDT by van_erwin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek; bannie
Just because life on earth is carbon based doesn't mean life elswhere can't be copper or helium based.

Err... no, that's not possible. Copper doesn't have the ability to "combine" with other elements in such wide varieties as Carbon does. And as for Helium, duuuuuh, it IS an inert gas (like Argon, neon etc.) : inert meaning you can't really get it to combine with anything else very easily.

On the opposite end of the scale you have hydrogen and the group containing fluorine, iodine etc. that combine with pretty much anything very quickly.

Carbon combines quickly providing energy transmission -- hence we use Carbon bases to create plastics. Carbon is smack dab between those two (Inert elements and highly reactive elements) and has the second lowest atomic number in its "family", and the ones with higher atomic number won't combine so easily as they have so many more electrons, protons etc. The only exception to this is silicon, so a silicon based lifeform is well within the realms of possibility. Lifeforms based on other elements(bar the inert elements like helium) may be possible under extremely unusual circumstances.
79 posted on 05/09/2004 8:05:46 AM PDT by Cronos (W2K4)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek
Think of it this way -- life exists where water is liquid, not gaseous (vapour) or solid (ice) and that's only between 0C and 100 C (273 and 373 K)
80 posted on 05/09/2004 8:07:41 AM PDT by Cronos (W2K4)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-123 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson