NASA’s press conference revealed some freaky science today. Until now, it was thought that phosphorus, along with carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulfur, were essential for “life as we know it”.

Arsenic sits below phosphorus on the periodic table and shares many of its chemical properties. So, Dr. Felisa Wolf-Simon, a NASA astrobiology fellow at the United States Geological Survey in California, led an experiment to see if arsenic could replace phosphorus in bacterium. This bacterium was scraped from Mono Lake in California and grown for months in a lab mixture containing arsenic.

Their discovery opens up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere in the universe, using “biochemical powers we have not yet dared to dream about.” The bacterium was successfully trained to eat and grow on a diet consisting of arsenic in place of phosphorus.

The New York Times included this snippet in their article, which gives us something to chew on:

Gerald Joyce, a chemist and molecular biologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said the work “shows in principle that you could have a different form of life,” but noted that even these bacteria are affixed to the same tree of life as the rest of us, like the extremophiles that exist in ocean vents.

“It’s a really nice story about adaptability of our life form,” he said. “It gives food for thought about what might be possible in another world.”

Despite this taste for arsenic, the authors also reported, the GFAJ-1 strain grew considerably better when provided with phosphorus, so in some ways they still prefer a phosphorus diet. Dr. Joyce, from his reading of the paper, concurred, pointing out that there was still some phosphorus in the bacterium even after all its force-feeding with arsenic. He described it as “clinging to every last phosphate molecule, and really living on the edge.”

Dr. Joyce added, “I was feeling sorry for the bugs.” [READ THE FULL NY TIMES ARTICLE HERE]

I feel sorry for the bugs, too.

In an interesting reactionary post, Bryce Zabel, co-author of A.D.: After Disclosure, weighed in with his opinion of today’s conference:

Dear NASA… We like the Super-Tough Microbes, Yes, But…

Sometimes you just feel like you need to pull your fists out of the ceiling.

NASA should know better, and may, but still pretends it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the ruling elite of the media buy the whole story.

That story — today’s edition — concerns some microbes that can exist in the extremely salty, alkaline, arsenic-rich body of water in eastern California that’s known as Mono Lake. This stew should kill most living things, crushing any primitive will to live completely. This new life form uses arsenic in place of phosphorus to build DNA and proteins. Because Mono Lake is such an inhospitable environment for life, the storyline goes, this means that maybe we can find life in some places we might never have thought to look before. READ THE REST OF ZABEL’S POST

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Copyright © 2010 Cherlyn Gardner Strong

Read more of Cherlyn’s posts at her Paranormal Old Pueblo website

NASA has announced a press conference to be held at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2,” to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.”

The announcement has raised a significant amount of curiosity about the finding, as well as some speculation by members of the media and some UFO and alien bloggers. We’ll just have to wait until Thursday to find out what it is all about.

The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency’s website.

Participants are:- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla.
- James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA astrobiology activities, visit: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov

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Copyright © 2010 Cherlyn Gardner Strong

Read more of Cherlyn’s posts at her Paranormal Old Pueblo website

The discovery of an unconfirmed extrasolar planet, dubbed Gliese 581g, was announced last month during a press briefing on September 29th.

Since that time, an Australian astronomer named Ragbir Bhathal claims to have detected a suspicious alien signal from the same area of the galaxy where Gliese 581g is located. He claims that he detected the signal two years ago. The astronomer, a scientist at the University of Western Sydney, is also a member of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).

The claim of the signal detected by Bhathal has drawn wide skepticism from scientists, despite the belief that Gliese 581g would likely be habitable.

During the press briefing in September, one scientist speculated the chances of life on this planet at 100%:

“Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of life to flourish wherever it can, I would say, my own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent,” said Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “I have almost no doubt about it.”

It remains to be seen if any possible life on the planet is intelligent and capable of sending signals from Gliese 581g. The planet is located 20 light years from Earth in the constellation Libra. Researchers have estimated that its mass is three to four times Earth’s. Researchers believe it is likely a rocky planet with enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere.

Claim of Alien Signal from Planet Gliese 581g Called ‘Very Suspicious’
By Denise Chow
SPACE.com

The recent discovery of Gliese 581g, an alien planet in the habitable zone of another star, has been an exciting development for scientists probing the galaxy for signs of extraterrestrial life. At least one claim of a possible signal from the planet has already surfaced – and been met with harsh skepticism among the science community.

[READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT SPACE.COM]