NASA finds new life form in California (not in space): Announcement Video
Bacteria that subsists off Arsenic. (Image courtesy of Science/AAAS)
After two days of flurries of speculation about NASA's Thursday announcement, an answer finally seems clear: NASA did not find alien life, but it did find a new life form here on Earth. A team of scientists discovered a bacteria in California that lives off arsenic.
Before you get disappointed, realize that while not as sexy as a little green man, it is a big deal. No other life form exists off arsenic. It had long been the assumption that without six certain essential elements -- carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur -- life could not exist. This discovery shows "life-as-we-know-it could be much more flexible than we generally assume or can imagine," Felisa Wolfe-Simon a NASA biochemist told the Post's Marc Kaufman.
Watch the announcement here:
By
Melissa Bell
| December 2, 2010; 1:42 PM ET
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So why didn't they say that was what this announcement was going to be? Because no one would have (rightly) cared! Hey NASA, where is my hovercar??
Posted by: sprtpilot | December 2, 2010 2:44 PM | Report abuse
I, for one, welcome our new arsenic-based overlords...
Posted by: randal04 | December 2, 2010 2:47 PM | Report abuse
Can you believe someone made a t-shirt?? "Arsen-itch: the Arsenic Bacterial Lifeform Creme". http://www.cafepress.com/arseniclifeform
Crazy...
Posted by: geoburke | December 2, 2010 3:45 PM | Report abuse
One drop of healthy human saliva contains 50 to 100 million bacteria. FACTBOMB by TimetoSignOff.com
Posted by: itstimetosignoff | December 3, 2010 11:51 AM | Report abuse
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