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Nasa discovers life?

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  • david_b
    Never had enough toys..
    • May 9, 2008
    • 2305

    #16
    Originally posted by Brazoo
    Personally I think it's great that NASA is getting more savvy about using PR. For nearly 30 years they bored the crap out of everyone and got nowhere. I think it's about time they learned that getting the general public interested is important - after all - they're paying for it!
    Wasn't it astronaut John Young back in '78 who lamented that the reason no one's excited about the space program anymore is because we haven't discovered Klingons yet..?

    david_b
    Peace.. Through Superior Firepower.

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    • Brazoo
      Permanent Member
      • Feb 14, 2009
      • 4767

      #17
      Originally posted by Werewolf
      It wasn't even really naturally occuring.

      "The researchers collected the bacteria known as GFAJ-1 and exposed it to increasing concentrations of arsenic, which it was able to adapt to and grow.

      The microbe does grow better on phosphorous, but showing that it can live with arsenic instead raises the possibility that a life form using arsenic could occur naturally, either elsewhere on Earth or on another planet or moon where arsenic is more common."

      Microbe found that can use arsenic as nutrient | Science Headlines | Comcast.net
      I totally get what you're saying, but to my mind, naturally occurring or not, this is a completely different life form. Basically our first experience with an 'alien' being. I think it's front page news.

      Comment

      • Werewolf
        Inhuman
        • Jul 14, 2003
        • 14975

        #18
        Originally posted by Brazoo
        I totally get what you're saying, but to my mind, naturally occurring or not, this is a completely different life form. Basically our first experience with an 'alien' being. I think it's front page news.
        This is science journal news. Not Weekly World News tabloid style they found alien life news. They, basically, feed arsenic to bacteria and it didn't die. But it still does better naturally on phosphorous. This is not a new discovered life form. It's a science experiment and again it's interesting enough on it's own in a proper tabloid headline free context.
        Last edited by Werewolf; Dec 2, '10, 2:26 PM.
        You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

        Comment

        • Brazoo
          Permanent Member
          • Feb 14, 2009
          • 4767

          #19
          Anyone else watching this?

          Very cool - a organic chemist just kinda tossed in some objections to how "extraordinary" this experiment's results are. To paraphrase, he just described science as a 'clash of ideas', which is SOOOO much different than the general perception of scientists being afraid of new ideas that may question their knowledge.

          Comment

          • Brazoo
            Permanent Member
            • Feb 14, 2009
            • 4767

            #20
            Originally posted by Werewolf
            This is science journal news. Not Weekly World News tabloid style they found alien life news. They, basically, feed arsenic to bacteria and it didn't die. But it still does better naturally on phosphorous. This is not a new discovered life form. It's a science experiment and again it's interesting enough on it's own in a proper tabloid headline free context.
            Well - I respectfully disagree. It' significance isn't just surviving the arsenic (which is highly toxic to all known lifeforms) it's that the bacteria's genetics adapted into something previously unknown.

            It's widening the spectrum of what we consider life - to me that's beyond just science.

            Comment

            • Brazoo
              Permanent Member
              • Feb 14, 2009
              • 4767

              #21
              Haha - these two nerdy clowns in the press galley just got all excited when they saw themselves in the studio monitors.

              Comment

              • Brazoo
                Permanent Member
                • Feb 14, 2009
                • 4767

                #22
                Originally posted by david_b
                Wasn't it astronaut John Young back in '78 who lamented that the reason no one's excited about the space program anymore is because we haven't discovered Klingons yet..?

                david_b
                Haha - well I don't know that quote, but it's pretty funny.


                To me it's like this; I'm a dumb guy. like most kids I liked science as a really little kid, but by the time I got to high school I thought it was boring. I got a C+ in high school science and didn't become interested in science again until I took an intro course as an elective in college.

                I need guys like Carl Sagan who can both engage me and explain things to me because science is only interesting to a dumb guy like me if it's MADE interesting.

                Seems like NASA is learning how to do that again now - in fact the lead researcher keeps mentioning Sagan and apologizing when she says anything too technical.
                Last edited by Brazoo; Dec 2, '10, 3:00 PM.

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                • Doc
                  Banned
                  • May 9, 2010
                  • 534

                  #23
                  Just another lame. If we found bacteria living in crap here it "Could " live out there. Lets announce our "Big" discovery... Oh and this rock we found here had a fossil in it it "Must" have come from Mars lets justify our budget folks.....Yeah come up with some pictures or clear radio signals... Its friggan like ghost hunters.....Ooooo look what just happened off camera

                  Comment

                  • Brazoo
                    Permanent Member
                    • Feb 14, 2009
                    • 4767

                    #24
                    I think “astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.” is what NASA said - and that's pretty accurate to me. Bloggers and the media made it out to be more than it was.

                    Same thing with the Mars meteorites. The news was that some interpretations of found Martian meteorites showed evidence of fossils - they admitted that the fossils could have been from Earth - the media put "Scientists Find Martian Fossils" in the headlines and most people just read the headlines.

                    It's the news media that sucked in these two cases - to me - not the scientists.

                    Comment

                    • Werewolf
                      Inhuman
                      • Jul 14, 2003
                      • 14975

                      #25
                      Originally posted by Brazoo
                      I think “astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.” is what NASA said - and that's pretty accurate to me.
                      I have to respectfully disagree with that.

                      That statement was obviously loaded and ambiguous at the same time, in my opinion. You could say it's classic bait and switch. Cleverly word the statement and seed the idea of "extraterrestrial life" in people's minds and imaginations and deliver something else.

                      It was an interesting experiment they didn't need to go P.T. Barnum on. They should have been totally honest and upfront from the beginning and not overplayed or over hyped their experiment or findings. Again, I find the experiment in itself newsworthy on a scientific level. But I am personally opposed to the mode of delivery. As I said, this is Scientific Journals level news not Weekly World News.
                      Last edited by Werewolf; Dec 2, '10, 4:36 PM.
                      You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                      Comment

                      • Brazoo
                        Permanent Member
                        • Feb 14, 2009
                        • 4767

                        #26
                        Well - here's the original NASA press release. To me it doesn't look that much different than other NASA press releases I've seen lately:

                        http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010...robiology.html

                        I agree that it's a little vague, and sure, they're trying to play up people's expectations a bit - isn't that what a good press release should do?

                        The blind speculation and wild excitement came from the news media and caught on because it's a slow news week, in my opinion.

                        Yahoo News, is a good quick example: "What is NASA's Secret Astrobiology Announcement?" "Evidence of Life on Mars?" What is NASA's Secret Astrobiology Announcement? - Yahoo! News


                        Anyway - I totally get your point. I think we're both criticizing the same thing from different angles. But in the case of science I kinda wish announcements like this did get more press - instead of Kim Kardashian's new shoes, or whatever dreck is normally leading news these days.

                        Comment

                        • Werewolf
                          Inhuman
                          • Jul 14, 2003
                          • 14975

                          #27
                          Originally posted by Brazoo
                          I agree that it's a little vague, and sure, they're trying to play up people's expectations a bit - isn't that what a good press release should do?
                          Sure, if they are hyping a movie or theme park attraction. No, if they are announcing the findings of an scientific experiment.

                          The blind speculation and wild excitement came from the news media and caught on because it's a slow news week, in my opinion.
                          And not once did NASA issue a correction or downplay the findings for their press event. They wanted it to whip people into a frenzy. Mission accomplished. I personally feel it was in poor taste.
                          Last edited by Werewolf; Dec 2, '10, 6:23 PM.
                          You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                          Comment

                          • Tyme2tyme
                            Veteran Member
                            • Apr 3, 2008
                            • 418

                            #28
                            Just hearing that the "Extraterrestrial life" was discovered in California is kind of a letdown. We've known that California in full of strange creatures for some time now . I was pumped up to hear about life off this planet, not in our own backyard, JOHN
                            Livin' the American Dream!

                            Comment

                            • Adam West
                              Museum CPA
                              • Apr 14, 2003
                              • 6822

                              #29
                              One thing I learned in an advanced astronomy class in college which I thought was pretty cool is that humans are extraterrestrials ourselves. We have elements in our bodies that can't be found on earth....as my professor said "we are all made of star dust"
                              "The farther we go, the more the ultimate explanation recedes from us, and all we have left is faith."
                              ~Vaclav Hlavaty

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