NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

[Lars77]

Source: RedOrbit

NASA will hold a news conference 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 news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.

Read more: http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1957898/nasa_sets_news_conference_on_astrobiology_discovery/

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From http://kottke.org/10/11/has-nasa-discovered-extraterrestrial-life :

I did a little research on the news conference participants and found:

1. Pamela Conrad (a geobiologist) was the primary author of a 2009 paper on geology and life on Mars

2. Felisa Wolfe-Simon (an oceanographer) has written extensively on photosynthesis using arsenic recently (she worked on the team mentioned in this article)

3. Steven Benner (a biologist) is on the "Titan Team" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; they're looking at Titan (Saturn's largest moon) as an early-Earth-like chemical environment. This is likely related to the Cassini mission.

4. James Elser (an ecologist) is involved with a NASA-funded astrobiology program called Follow the Elements, which emphasizes looking at the chemistry of environments where life evolves (and not just looking at water or carbon or oxygen).

So, if I had to guess at what NASA is going to reveal on Thursday, I'd say that they've discovered arsenic on Titan and maybe even detected chemical evidence of bacteria utilizing it for photosynthesis (by following the elements). Or something like that. (thx, sippey)

[Phoonzang]

1. Since several of the people on the panel

have been involved in research on shadow biospheres it may have something to do with that. Notice the announcement says "finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." So the discovery of radically different, unconventional organisms here on Earth will "impact" any future search for alien life.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. If they can get the public to accept extraterrestrial microbe life

Then when the Vogons come to put in their intergalactic highway and wipe out earth
we won't be so shocked.

Or maybe the Pope knows something about first contact that we don't?

Hitchhiking besides, I think your observation is correct.

[Baclava]

8. Calm down my fellow Earthicans.....all is well

At the most we will just have to hand over our women for the breeding pens aboard the slave ships.

We can make more. The pope says so.


yea, verily

[Jamastiene]

34. I hope it's the greys. I love those.

I hope they let us raise our babies after the breed us. I'd love a little baby grey of my own. :bounce:

:D

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Lars.

[jberryhill]

4. They are getting ahead of the Wikileaks exposure of alien life

[eppur_se_muova]

7. :grin: nt

[bigworld]

5. Don't they have a press conference like this about once a year?

Announcing the finding of some microorganisms outside our Earth?

[Baclava]

6. It's a sign!

[Subdivisions]

9. Oxygen and cabon dioxide discovered on Saturn moon Rhea...

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/11/29/cassini.reveals.oxygen.atmosphere.saturns.moon.rhea

A tenuous atmosphere infused with oxygen and carbon-dioxide has been discovered at Saturn's moon Rhea by the Cassini-Huygens mission, the first time a spacecraft has captured direct evidence of an oxygen atmosphere at a world other than Earth. The NASA-led international mission made the discovery using combined data from Cassini's instruments, which includes a sensor designed and built at UCL's (University College London) Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

Published today in Science Express, results from the mission reveal that the atmosphere of Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon at 1500 km wide, is extremely thin and is sustained by high energy particles bombarding its icy surface and kicking up atoms, molecules and ions into the atmosphere.

The density of oxygen is probably about 5 trillion times less dense than in Earth's atmosphere. However, the formation of oxygen and carbon dioxide could possibly drive complex chemistry on the surfaces of many icy bodies in the universe.

"The new results suggest that active, complex chemistry involving oxygen may be quite common throughout the solar system and even our universe," said Dr Ben Teolis, a Cassini team scientist based at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and lead author. "Such chemistry could be a pre-requisite for life. All evidence from Cassini indicates Rhea is too cold and devoid of the liquid water necessary for life as we know it."

...snip...

[Heddi]

10. kick

[2QT2BSTR8]

11. IMPORTANT NASA to Reveal 'Astrobiology Discovery' Thursday

Source: NASA

November 30, 2010 - Aliens are a terrifying yet exciting prospect. We've all seen Smallville. We can't be the only ones out there. There has to be other planets, other people, other life forms, right? Sure, we're not expecting them all to look like Clark Kent or the charming Kara, but we'd like to know for sure that they're out there.

Well, it probably won't be as exciting as uncovering an advanced civilization of beings not too different from us, but NASA says it's got an 'astrobiology discovery' to share with us all on Thursday afternoon. To say we are excited would be a huge understatement. However, NASA does say that this discovery will 'impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.' Close encounters are getting closer, guys!

Here it is, straight from the Space Agency's mouth:

NASA will hold a news conference 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 news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov

Read more: www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2010/M10-110.html

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Oh please let it be E.T.! Or maybe the cables talk about Area 51? Either way, should be interesting.

[flamingdem]

12. oh boy nt

[hobbit709]

13. Probably more like certain complex organic molecules were detected somewhere out there.

[slackmaster]

15. Amino acids have already been found in comets

I think hobbit709's guess is right.

[drm604]

14. The Telegraph seems to have the scoop on this.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8174040/Life-as-we-dont-know-it-discovery-could-prove-existence-of-aliens.html

[gristy]

17. Lots of good comments over there

Most are saying the story is over-hyped

[drm604]

19. It is.

At least in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, it's important and pretty much the type of thing I expected, but the way the media's been hyping it there are people who think we've found ET.

[bread_and_roses]

20. Most interesting sentence in that article

Scientists have also estimated that life of some kind exists on hundred billion trillion Earth-like planets in space.

However it is usually just bacteria and intelligent life such as us is fleeting and only exists for a fraction of the time.

Consciousness is its own poison.

[Posteritatis]

28. Whole-cloth speculation in a scientific context isn't really interesting. (nt)

[bread_and_roses]

32. oh phhhhhhhttttttttttttttttt

I do beg your pardon for daring to make an offhand comment on an internet message board. :eyes:

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[XemaSab]

23. Lawl

n/t

[villager]

18. Just as long as it's not that crazy "evolution" stuff, or timelines longer than 6,000 years!

n/t

[Frisbee]

21. I am pretty sure they have found...

canals on Mars. :rofl:

[greiner3]

22. I had rather hoped;

It had something to do with SETI. That would have given Proxmire a turn for the worse.

[Arctic Dave]

24. Wonder if this is what the unmanned space vehicle was about?

Tinfoil time ;)

[InvisibleTouch]

25. Sounds exciting!

It's about time we meet the neighbors.

[tclambert]

26. C'mon, you know it's gonna be something like bacteria poop.

"We found possible bacteria poop in a meteorite." Then a little later other scientists will suggest other chemical mechanisms that could have formed a "poop-like substance."

Still . . . wouldn't it be cool if it were a telegram from Omicron Ceti Three telling us to take care of our planet, or else.

[Hardrada]

27. LOL. Yes, that sounds typical.

[Jamastiene]

35. Shit. You know, you are probably right.

It's probably more bacteria poop.

[HDPaulG]

29. Small moves, Ellie, small moves.

CQ, CQ, this is W9GFO. Is anybody out there?

[booksenkatz]

30. It's a cookbook!!!!111!!!111 NT

[Jamastiene]

36. Little red cookbook.

Little red cookbook. :P

[BrownieGman]

31. Intel-LIFE..?

Where ?....USA..."NO WAY...!

[AngryAmish]

33. This is why I am pissed off that I am going to die

I want to travel to the stars. In comfort, with lots of beer and hot astro-babes.

[Jamastiene]

37. My dream is similar to that.

That is why I am hoping they will work on singularity a little bit faster. I want to have plenty of vodka and astro-babes in my little trip. :P

[harun]

38. If that isn't a cause we could all get behind I don't know what is.