A microbe has been discovered in a remote Californian lake that can survive without phosphorus, capable of substituting arsenic into that slot in its biochemistry instead. Previously environmental phosphorus has been considered necessary for carbon-based life forms to exist, a datum factored into the search for alien life in outer space, so this is a fairly large deal for the search for life on other planets.
Astrobiologists are excited about what else they might find, Paul Davies gets to feel smug about his ‘shadow biosphere’ theory holding up, and space geeks everywhere who got a little overexcited at the NASA alert that “an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life” was to be announced this week get to feel a little deflated – no alien lifeforms just yet, simply more candidate planets to examine.
These are just the ones that pay homage to Agatha Christie
P.S. Mono Lake is a gorgeous place.
Elsewhere: The Bad Astronomer (Phil Plait), Ed Yong
crossposted
Ah, now we know what takes over the earth after Peak Phosphorus …..
Good timing. I’ve just started reading “The Eerie Silence” by Paul Davies, in which he discusses SETI and the theories behind “weird life”.
Apparently NASA is describing as extra-terrestial, despite the fact that it grew here. Now threy’re out looking for more and for new and different ones.
It can’t get by without phosphorus, it can just survive with some arsenic in place of some of the phosphorus. And it wasn’t discovered somewhere in the wild, it was grown in a lab.
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/12/02/life_with_arsenic_whod_have_thought.php
@Paul Burns, NASA is definitely not describing it as extra-terrestrial, that’s some wet behind the ears science journalist not listening/reading carefully enough. NASA is saying that it broadens their understanding of the possible environments where extra-terrestrial life might be found, and that they will have to change their SETI search parameters accordingly. There’s been a lot of non-NASA speculation and a lot of less-careful-than-it-should-be reportage about this.
@SJ, that article reiterates my own understanding: that the original microbe was definitely found in the mud at Mono Lake, and subsequently cultured in the lab in environments with ever less phosphorus until there was no ambient phosphorus in the substrate. There was some Selection over generations of cultured microbes for those that adjusted to metabolising arsenic more efficiently, but it still remains a found microbe, not an engineered one. As it says, the organisms may well still have some phosphoric compounds incorporated within themselves, but they are getting along with no inputs of phosphorus, which is close enough to ‘without phosphorus’ for my money.
He’s back.
moderated?
It went into spam for some reason, FDB. Fished it out.
Surely Teh Interwebs should have a universal spambot exception rule for XKCD links by now.
While I’m perfectly willing to envision that life can thrive under all sorts of zany circumstances (didn’t Vonnegut have silicon-based beings, and creatures who ate vibrations?), this is still an indirect illustration of expanded SETI criteria, if I understand it right.
Which is to say, these bacteria started out in the normal phosphorus way, then adapted to arsenic only when necessary; what hasn’t been shown is a living being arising using completely different materials like arsenic from the git-go.
But I’d be all for an extraterrestrial creature that made its DNA out of xkcd.
Just think: if they could find this wee beastie in Mono Lake, what sort of groovy, laid-back creatures might they discover at the bottom of Lake Tahoe? Perhaps a being made entirely out of sunglasses, ski boots, casino chips, and chill?
Oh, and Fredo’s body, I guess.
In Lake Gambier, the microorganisms are made entirely out of the colour blue.
Lakes are awesome.
Deep at the bottom of Lake Baikal, dwells a mythical creature that is part Putin, part Dersu Uzala, and part Gorgo.
I love it!
“Like nothing youve ever seen before”
[new line]
“!”
Er… except maybe Godzilla. And some model dinosaurs.
Gorgo got a bad rap.
The Big Ben devouring reptile pictured isn’t Gorgo.
It’s Ogra.
Ogra, son of Gorgo, right?
Wait, other way around.
According to Wiki, Ogra was originally slated to devour slices of Australia.
But the producers decided that no one would care if Australia was trashed.
Ergo Ogra levelled London.
(And yes, I am proud of the previous sentence.)
“except maybe Godzilla. And some model dinosaurs.”
Man, you gotta love Youtube — that remark made me wonder if there’s an online clip of FZ’s great old ode to bad monster movies, “Cheepnis”, which I haven’t heard in eons (but still know all the words).
And, there is!
Not as tuneful as “Science Fiction/Double Feature” to be sure, but much funnier, and the clip includes great montage footage of amazingly bad monster movies, including the notorious “It Conquered the World.”
Plus, check out Ruth Underwood’s (well, at least I think it’s Ruth Underwood /nerd) 70′s-style laid-back stage chic. Ah, the Roxy. The Sunset Strip just hasn’t been the same since.
It’s youtube-licious!
Did the makers of “It Conquered the World” also make the Australian World Cup promo video?
its life but not as we know it…
*notes j_p_z’s link for future whimsy post*
As you were.
Jaws, even, FFS!
Yep, it was Ruth Underwood, japerz.