Posted on 02/20/2006 5:28:16 PM PST by KevinDavis
Conspiracy theorists will readily tell you that the U.S. military is hiding alien corpses in a secret facility in the Nevada desert. But paleontologist and University of Washington geology professor Peter Ward thinks that scientists should be looking for a different type of alien life on earth: alien microbes. Ward is the author of several popular books about astrobiology, including the controversial Rare Earth, co-authored with Donald Brownlee. In his latest book, Life as We Do Not Know It, Ward addresses an issue often avoided by astrobiologists. Although all known life on Earth has a similar DNA-based chemistry, life found on other worlds may not. In chapter 6 of Life as We Do Not Know It, reprinted below, Ward takes this argument one step further. There may, he says, be unfamiliar life forms on Earth, as well. And scientists would be wise to search for them.
(Excerpt) Read more at astrobio.net ...
Dude, you knew it was coming, right? Even while you were typing it.....
Good post, though.
I'm going to be up front and state clearly that I am a creationist and do not by macro evolution or the separate field of inquiry concerning abiogenesis.
However, that being said. IF I was to hold to the possibility of a totally naturalistic abiogenesis and extraterrestrial life. It seems most logical that those forms would most likely exist as microbes. That being the case, to search for trully "alien" microbes WOULD make sense.
Many hold that the "Martian" meteors found in Anartica contained fossils of extraterrestria microbes. IF this is true, then a search for extraterrestrial microbes here should be fruitful.
I will readily state that I don't think any would be found, but I can see that, when I attempt objectivity, that this is a worthwhile way to spend time in scientific inquiry.
Why is it not being done? What characteristics would one look for that would distinguish the lifeform as non terrain in origin? Maybe the use of the isomers of amino acids not used by life on earth? Maybe even the use of amino acids other than the 20 used? Any other speculation here?
Cue Dung Beetle.......
When I was posting this article I was laughing to myself knowing what was going to be posted...
The only way you could tell an alien microbe from a non alien microbe would be to go to a place in outer space, say Mars, and find microbes there that are identical to something that exists on Earth. This was the big deal about the Martian meteorites a few years back.
YES!
On the left side of the aisle and in the MSM!
How else would you explain their thought process?
I was thinking more along the lines of Prey.
this thread has lots of potential!
You are right that the hypothesis would be that alien microbes would be substantially different in some way that they would "look" alien, or evolved separately. However, this doesn't mean anything really, because there is nothing in the theory of evolution that prohibits abiogenesis from happening more than once.
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What if you found a live sample that metabolized non-carbon food sources, or had waste gasses not consistent with terrestrial metabolic products?
Geez, they ought to get their facts correct, everyone knows the corpses are kept at Wright-Patterson airbase in Ohio.
There, that was simple and should settle it...
Alien or The Devil.....hmmm.
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