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NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

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Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#61

Post by bh42222 »

po wrote: post #24

So one thing to keep in mind here is that according to NASA, the meteorite itself is generating these compounds: Thirdly, the team found these nucleobases -- both the biological and non-biological ones -- were produced in a completely non-biological reaction. "In the lab, an identical suite of nucleobases and nucleobase analogs were generated in non-biological chemical reactions containing hydrogen cyanide, ammonia,…

It means that the components of life are a "naturally" occurring things, which appear all over the universe, and do not require life to produce them. This in turn implies that life, not just any life, but carbon based, DNA using life, could be more common in the universe then previously thought. And this implies that we here on Earth are even less of an unique snowflake then we thought.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#62

Post by calebmpeterson »

While NASA's discovery of nucleobases as opposed to amino acids is certainly interesting, there's a long way between "hey, nucleobases on an asteroid," and "wow, the entire genome of a living creature." There's a big jump in complexity, structure, and organization between organic chemistry and the multi-trillion cell organism we call homosapien.

The comparison in complexity is the rough equivalent of finding a few MOV/JMP/ADD instructions in a random text file as opposed to the source tree for the Linux kernel (I might be underestimating the human genome a little here).

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#63

Post by winestock »

bh42222 wrote: post #61
po wrote: post #24

So one thing to keep in mind here is that according to NASA, the meteorite itself is generating these compounds: Thirdly, the team found these nucleobases -- both the biological and non-biological ones -- were produced in a completely non-biological reaction. "In the lab, an identical suite of nucleobases and nucleobase analogs were generated in non-biological chemical reactions containing hydrogen cyanide, ammonia,…

It means that the components of life are a "naturally" occurring things, which appear all over the universe, and do not require life to produce them. This in turn implies that life, not just any life, but carbon based, DNA using life, could be more common in the universe then previously thought. And this implies that we here on Earth are even less of an unique snowflake then we thought.

If we, here on Earth, are not unique precious snowflakes, then that makes the Fermi Paradox even more paradoxical.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#64

Post by cookiecaper »

danteembermage wrote: post #15
torstesu wrote: post #8

I have always been curious as to how religion will tackle proof of alien life. Do aliens get to go to heaven?

My religion has taught me there was alien life since I was a child. I was also taught that all humans and all animal life will be resurrected. It's not too hard to extrapolate that intelligent alien species, should they exist, would as well. So maybe the answer to your question is "It depends on the religion."

And for the record, "alien life" in Mormonism means other earths very similiar to the one we inhabit, populated by people like the people that live here on our earth. Not usually what most people think of when they hear of aliens.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#65

Post by jarin »

ams6110 wrote: post #38
rokhayakebe wrote: post #10

My biggest fear is dying before mankind finds the definite scientific answer to death and our origin/s. We seem to be so near (~ one century away).

This is really your biggest fear? Or is that just a figure of speech. I'm genuinely curious, as while I think this "answer" might be intellectually satisfying to some degree, I see it as making little difference in practical matters. I also think it's an answer that will never come. I don't see any inconsistency between a universe created by God and any scientific observations we make within that creation.

> I don't see any inconsistency between a universe created by God and any scientific observations we make within that creation.

I don't know if there's a name for this argument, but it would seem to imply that a god or gods are not necessary (whether or not it or they exist). When you combine that with Occam's Razor (the hypothesis that makes the fewest assumptions is likely the correct one), my interpretation is that there is likely not a god or gods.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#66

Post by jarin »

torstesu wrote: post #8

I have always been curious as to how religion will tackle proof of alien life. Do aliens get to go to heaven?

Although I am deeply unreligious and disagree with much of what the Vatican says regarding birth control etc, I've been impressed with the Vatican's statements in past years re: the Big Bang, evolution, aliens, etc.

The Vatican's chief astronomer said that aliens likely have souls and he would "gladly baptize one if it asked".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/17/pope-astronome...

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#67

Post by sodiumphosphate »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #58
ams6110 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really your biggest fear? Or is that just a figure of speech. I'm genuinely curious, as while I think this "answer" might be intellectually satisfying to some degree, I see it as making little difference in practical matters. I also think it's an answer that will never come. I don't see any inconsistency between a universe created by God and any scientific observations we make within that creation.

I see it as making little difference in practical matters It changes everything. It is like being 30 years old and finding you were adopted. You want to know where you come from. Edit: But besides what you and I think, what will it mean to the world if religion was "proven" to be man-made, as well as the idea of a Higher Power.

Good luck proving anything to those who unconsciously and automatically shun reason.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#68

Post by cloudkj »

winestock wrote: post #63
bh42222 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It means that the components of life are a "naturally" occurring things, which appear all over the universe, and do not require life to produce them. This in turn implies that life, not just any life, but carbon based, DNA using life, could be more common in the universe then previously thought. And this implies that we here on Earth are even less of an unique snowflake then we thought.

If we, here on Earth, are not unique precious snowflakes, then that makes the Fermi Paradox even more paradoxical.

And along those same lines, adds more weight to the implications of the Great Filter argument. That is, if the early steps in the path to intelligent life are really not that unlikely, then the later steps to advanced intelligent life are more unlikely.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#69

Post by ori_b »

winestock wrote: post #63
bh42222 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It means that the components of life are a "naturally" occurring things, which appear all over the universe, and do not require life to produce them. This in turn implies that life, not just any life, but carbon based, DNA using life, could be more common in the universe then previously thought. And this implies that we here on Earth are even less of an unique snowflake then we thought.

If we, here on Earth, are not unique precious snowflakes, then that makes the Fermi Paradox even more paradoxical.

I'd be extremely surprised if there was very little life on other planets. I'd also be extremely surprised if we could recognize it as life at a glance -- my guess is that it's so likely to be so completely different from us that that even knowing what to look for is going to be hard.

Life is probably not that rare. Familiar life probably is.

Re: NASA finds DNA components in meteorites, says they originated in space

#70

Post by Dove »

jarin wrote: post #65
ams6110 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really your biggest fear? Or is that just a figure of speech. I'm genuinely curious, as while I think this "answer" might be intellectually satisfying to some degree, I see it as making little difference in practical matters. I also think it's an answer that will never come. I don't see any inconsistency between a universe created by God and any scientific observations we make within that creation.

> I don't see any inconsistency between a universe created by God and any scientific observations we make within that creation. I don't know if there's a name for this argument, but it would seem to imply that a god or gods are not necessary (whether or not it or they exist). When you combine that with Occam's Razor (the hypothesis that makes the fewest assumptions is likely the correct one), my interpretation is tha…

To be strict, a completely successful theory of the origin of life would mean that God was not necessary to explain that. He could still be necessary to explain other things.
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