DailyDirt: Looking For Life In All The Wrong Places?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The chemistry of what we consider biology may be common throughout the universe, but that doesn't necessarily mean that life is also abundant on other worlds. Chemists have tried to re-create the conditions that might have resulted in current biochemistry, but zapping inanimate precursor chemicals hasn't (yet?) generated any kind of life (that wasn't based on an existing, known lifeform -- ie. Venter kinda cheated). Here are some astrochemists looking for clues that might help us understand the origins of life.

• Two molecules, cyanomethanimine and ethanamine, have been seen in drifting in the interstellar cloud known as Sagittarius B2. The researchers who found them note that these molecules could be chemical precursors for DNA and RNA. [url]
• The existence of homochirality in biochemistry is a bit of mystery, but there may be some explanations that involve radiation from distant supernovas. Finding evidence of homochirality on asteroids or comets would be a nice find.... [url]
• The evidence of cellulose in interstellar space would be really exciting... if the spectroscopy data were more reliable. In 1978, polysaccharides were reported to be present near the Orion Trapezium Cluster, but confirming that finding hasn't panned out. [url]

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Filed Under: astrochemistry, biochemistry, biology, extraterrestrial life, homochirality, interstellar space, life

DailyDirt: Detecting Signs Of Life

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Looking for extraterrestrial life has been a largely fruitless task for many decades. There have been a few times when people thought they might have found evidence of life that wasn't from Earth, but upon further analysis, those discoveries weren't so clear cut. Still, the search for ETs is on-going, and here are just a few links on some ways to find alien friends.

• Spectroscopic biosignatures could be detected in light reflections off of alien planets. Reflected sunlight is polarized when it bounces off the Earth, and plant life on Earth absorb specific bands of light -- so alien worlds may exhibit similar phenomena (if only we could detect it). [url]
• In the 1970s, there was some speculation that cellulose could be detected in interstellar space. However, it's not so easy to figure out how to detect biopolymers in the vast vacuum of space. [url]
• The Drake Equation estimates how many alien civilizations might exist in our galaxy. It's just an estimate, and there are a lot of unknown variables... [url]
• Moqui marbles are unusual spherical rocks that have a rusty iron oxide exterior and a sandy interior -- and were formed with the help of microorganisms. So if we find similar rocks on other worlds, we might be able to infer that extra-terrestrial microbial life also exists. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: aliens, biosignature, cellulose, et, extraterrestrial, interstellar space, life, moqui marbles, seti, spectroscopy