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Originally posted by damajikninja
That would be my boy KleverOne's department.
In the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, a team of researchers has discovered a novel bacterium that transforms light into chemical energy. The discovery of the chlorophyll-producing bacterium, Candidatus Chloracidobacterium (Cab.) thermophilum, is described in the July 27 issue of the journal Science
The search for life elsewhere in the solar system and beyond should include efforts to detect what scientists sometimes refer to as "weird" life -- that is, life with an alternative biochemistry to that of life on Earth -- says a new report from the National Research Council.
The committee that wrote the report found that the fundamental requirements for life as we generally know it -- a liquid water biosolvent, carbon-based metabolism, molecular system capable of evolution, and the ability to exchange energy with the environment -- are not the only ways to support phenomena recognized as life.
Instead of thriving on water, extraterrestrial organisms might live in a sea of liquid methane. Or instead of getting energy from the sun, they might thrive on hydrochloric acid.
Originally posted by SonicInfinity
...I could have sworn this was covered before, but I could be mistaken...
PULLMAN, Wash. -- We may already have ‘met’ Martian organisms, according to a paper presented Sunday (Jan. 7) at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.
Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University and Joop Houtkooper of Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany, argue that even as new missions to Mars seek evidence that the planet might once have supported life, we already have data showing that may show life exists there now—data from experiments done by the Viking Mars landers in the late 1970s.
Originally posted by damajikninja
But we also know that our perception of "intelligence" is based upon ourselves - MANKIND. We are the ONLY intelligent life form we have ever seen! We assume to know what comprises an intelligent, sentient being - yet we still don't understand our own transient existence or where we came from!
Originally posted by cavscout
Originally posted by thelibra
Does it have anything we want?
Or more importantly, do we have anything it wants?
Originally posted by Rockpuck
IMHO a discovery of life on another planet, no matter how small would bring every major religion to its knees, rendering it useless, pointless and completely wrong. Which could lead to some violent outrage.. if there is life on another world and we already know about it, that is the sole reason imo to cover it up.
Originally posted by shyataroo
wait, am I reading that correctly? did they say hydrogen peroxide based life? isn't hydrogen peroxide a anti-bacterial?
Invasive Invertebrates in Natural Ecosystems
Invasive species are organisms (usually transported by humans) that successfully establish, and then thrive, in new environments. Invasive species, together with habitat destruction, have been a major cause of extinction of native species throughout the world in the past few hundred years.
An invasive species can be a micro-organism that causes disease; a plant or animal that competes with a native species for resources (like food or space); a predator of native species; and/or an organism that alters the way an ecosystem works. All these effects can be harmful to native species, and in some cases lead to extinctions.
In New Zealand there are more than 2000 species of invasive invertebrates already established. Some of these, such as Vespula wasps, have become abundant invaders that threaten our native ecosystems. More invasive invertebrates are continually arriving.
Landcare Research is investigating the risk to natural ecosystems posed by invasive ant species established in New Zealand, developing strategies to control wasps and ants, as well as any other invaders that might breach our borders. We are also interested in assessing the potential impacts of new invasive invertebrates and designing monitoring programmes to detect invertebrates before they can establish. The ultimate aim of this research is to protect and restore New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity and natural ecosystems.
Originally posted by cybertroy
Micro-organisms are a bit disappointing.
Summary (Aug 21, 2007): Physicists have discovered life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond Earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks.
"These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter," says Tsytovich, "they are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve".