BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?
120 light years away, too far away I think?
On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 21:56:06 UTC-4, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?They only used about three "may bes" in that article meaning...may be.
120 light years away, too far away I think?
Right now, the best bet is an ocean on a gas-giant's moon in our solar system.
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?
120 light years away, too far away I think?
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 7:39:19 PM UTC-7, RichA wrote:
On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 21:56:06 UTC-4, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway worldThey only used about three "may bes" in that article meaning...may be.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?
120 light years away, too far away I think?
Right now, the best bet is an ocean on a gas-giant's moon in our solar system.
Yes, but ocean alone don't generate DMS, it needs life, like plankton!
If there are plankton, then use your imagination!
We may try to communicate with this planet 120 light years away, if there's some kind of intelligent life there, may respond?
Yes, a lot of "Ifs"!
Any way, something to keep an eye on, until bigger, better telescopes, technology comes around?
On 13/09/2023 02:56, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?It is a very interesting observation if it can be confirmed with a
120 light years away, too far away I think?
better signal to noise in due course it makes a good case. On Earth DMS
and DMSO are byproducts of algal photosynthesis in the oceans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_sulfide
It isn't a likely molecule to arise by pure chance in a molecular cloud.
Here is a bit of background from an abstract (article is paywalled)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304420305002410
I wouldn't go so far as saying "only life can produce it" but it is a
well known byproduct of the simplest algal life on Earth and so could be
a visible marker of photosynthesis in some form occurring on another
planet. What colour their "plants" are may depend on the parent star(*)
or luck.
Sulphur and phosphorus isn't so abundant as H,C,N,O so seeing either chemistry active (particularly in an oxygen rich atmosphere would be a likely indicator of detecting life - as in replicating coloured slime).
The next Mars probes will use stable isotope mass spec and isotopically labelled (ie non-natural abundances of sulphur isotopes) to look for any signs of life metabolising suitably labelled food. It will be able to distinguish between life which preferentially grabs onto the lower
masses and inorganic reactions like peroxide oxidation which don't.
(*) remember that our most successful plants on Earth are green because
the first photosynthetic red pigmented photosynthetic organisms had
already bagged the more energetic blue photons.
Photosynthetic pigments come in a range of colours but the green plants
won the race for supremacy on Earth. It might be different elsewhere.
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/pigments.html
It is an impressive observation and will be even more so if it is
confirmed independently by another group of observers.
--
Martin Brown
On Thu, 14 Sep 2023 10:25:49 +0100, Martin Brown
<'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 13/09/2023 04:07, StarDust wrote:
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 7:39:19?PM UTC-7, RichA wrote:
On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 21:56:06 UTC-4, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway worldThey only used about three "may bes" in that article meaning...may be. >>> Right now, the best bet is an ocean on a gas-giant's moon in our solar system.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?
120 light years away, too far away I think?
Yes, but ocean alone don't generate DMS, it needs life, like plankton!
Plankton and coloured photosynthetic slimes of various sorts might wellMy guess is that simple life is ubiquitous on planets with liquid
be ubiquitous on any planets with all three phases of water present.
Life evolved to that state very quickly on Earth but then didn't do much >for 1.5-2 bn years (about half of the planets lifetime).
water. And simple multicellular life, as well. But complexity probably requires a high degree of planetary stability, meaning a star in a low density region of the galaxy, a star that itself is very stable, a
planetary system with only a few planets, a planet with a very large
moon, maybe some other factors, all of which drive down the number of suitable planets significantly.
On 13/09/2023 04:07, StarDust wrote:
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 7:39:19?PM UTC-7, RichA wrote:
On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 21:56:06 UTC-4, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway worldThey only used about three "may bes" in that article meaning...may be.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?
120 light years away, too far away I think?
Right now, the best bet is an ocean on a gas-giant's moon in our solar system.
Yes, but ocean alone don't generate DMS, it needs life, like plankton!
Plankton and coloured photosynthetic slimes of various sorts might well
be ubiquitous on any planets with all three phases of water present.
Life evolved to that state very quickly on Earth but then didn't do much
for 1.5-2 bn years (about half of the planets lifetime).
On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 6:25:29?AM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote: >> On Thu, 14 Sep 2023 10:25:49 +0100, Martin Brown
<'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 13/09/2023 04:07, StarDust wrote:My guess is that simple life is ubiquitous on planets with liquid
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 7:39:19?PM UTC-7, RichA wrote:
On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 21:56:06 UTC-4, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway worldThey only used about three "may bes" in that article meaning...may be. >> >>> Right now, the best bet is an ocean on a gas-giant's moon in our solar system.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce?
120 light years away, too far away I think?
Yes, but ocean alone don't generate DMS, it needs life, like plankton!
Plankton and coloured photosynthetic slimes of various sorts might well
be ubiquitous on any planets with all three phases of water present.
Life evolved to that state very quickly on Earth but then didn't do much
for 1.5-2 bn years (about half of the planets lifetime).
water. And simple multicellular life, as well. But complexity probably
requires a high degree of planetary stability, meaning a star in a low
density region of the galaxy, a star that itself is very stable, a
planetary system with only a few planets, a planet with a very large
moon, maybe some other factors, all of which drive down the number of
suitable planets significantly.
Yes, a planet like ours, with a big Moon, stabilizing it.
I read, Mars never had a large moon, so it's axis swing, wobble 90 degrees. >That's why life never could form on Mars, very unstable.
On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 1:12:59 AM UTC-7, Martin Brown wrote:
Photosynthetic pigments come in a range of colours but the green plants
won the race for supremacy on Earth. It might be different elsewhere.
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/pigments.html
It is an impressive observation and will be even more so if it is
confirmed independently by another group of observers.
Algae come in different colors on earth, but some are veri poisonous to life.
On Thu, 14 Sep 2023 07:13:43 -0700 (PDT), StarDust
wrote:
On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 6:25:29?AM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Thu, 14 Sep 2023 10:25:49 +0100, Martin Brown
<'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 13/09/2023 04:07, StarDust wrote:My guess is that simple life is ubiquitous on planets with liquid
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 7:39:19?PM UTC-7, RichA wrote:Plankton and coloured photosynthetic slimes of various sorts might well >> >be ubiquitous on any planets with all three phases of water present.
On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 21:56:06 UTC-4, StarDust wrote:
BBC News - Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway worldThey only used about three "may bes" in that article meaning...may be.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Never heard before about this DMS molecule, only life can produce? >> >>>> 120 light years away, too far away I think?
Right now, the best bet is an ocean on a gas-giant's moon in our solar system.
Yes, but ocean alone don't generate DMS, it needs life, like plankton! >> >
Life evolved to that state very quickly on Earth but then didn't do much >> >for 1.5-2 bn years (about half of the planets lifetime).
water. And simple multicellular life, as well. But complexity probably
requires a high degree of planetary stability, meaning a star in a low
density region of the galaxy, a star that itself is very stable, a
planetary system with only a few planets, a planet with a very large
moon, maybe some other factors, all of which drive down the number of
suitable planets significantly.
Yes, a planet like ours, with a big Moon, stabilizing it.Life could form on Mars (if it had liquid water). But likely not very complex life.
I read, Mars never had a large moon, so it's axis swing, wobble 90 degrees. >That's why life never could form on Mars, very unstable.
On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 8:05:40 AM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Thu, 14 Sep 2023 07:13:43 -0700 (PDT), StarDust
wrote:
Yes, a planet like ours, with a big Moon, stabilizing it.
I read, Mars never had a large moon, so it's axis swing, wobble 90 degrees. >>> That's why life never could form on Mars, very unstable.
Life could form on Mars (if it had liquid water). But likely not very
complex life.
According to NASA, Mars had water or some kind of liquid, but it's frozen underground.
At some of the crater's sides, show evidences of seasonal liquid flow.
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