Wouldn't that be a hoot, bacteria showing up in plain sight for a hundred years before we ever set a probe down there!
If so, would love to see if it uses Earthy DNA or if it uses some other kind of information storage system.
My guess is all life we find in the Solar system will turn out to be based on DNA, the idea there being a common cause, maybe from a space cloud seeding the whole solar system at the same time with the right precursor molecules that would lead to DNA.
Originally posted by sonhouse http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1647#.UupjgT1dWuJ
Wouldn't that be a hoot, bacteria showing up in plain sight for a hundred years before we ever set a probe down there!
If so, would love to see if it uses Earthy DNA or if it uses some other kind of information storage system.
My guess is all life we find in the Solar system will turn out to ...[text shortened]... e whole solar system at the same time with the right precursor molecules that would lead to DNA.
I think that red color is more likely to be just lifeless Europa dust although I wouldn't dare dismiss the bacterial hypothesis just yet just in case it is true.
I also believe the general scientific consensus is that DNA in cells evolved from the simpler RNA in cells which in turn evolved from a more primitive pre-RNA-like molecule but DNA couldn't have credibly directly formed to bypass those earlier steps outside living cells because it is just too complex for that.
Originally posted by humy I think that red color is more likely to be just lifeless Europa dust although I wouldn't dare dismiss the bacterial hypothesis just yet just in case it is true.
I also believe the general scientific consensus is that DNA in cells evolved from the simpler RNA in cells which in turn evolved from a more primitive pre-RNA-like molecule but DNA couldn't have cr ...[text shortened]... rmed to bypass those earlier steps outside living cells because it is just too complex for that.
Big IF's here, but IF we found the red to be actual bacteria mats or close to the surface in ice, AND it was DNA based like our life here on Earth, wouldn't that be a BIG message saying we all got started from a molecular cloud going through the solar system a few billion years ago?
Originally posted by sonhouse Big IF's here, but IF we found the red to be actual bacteria mats or close to the surface in ice, AND it was DNA based like our life here on Earth, wouldn't that be a BIG message saying we all got started from a molecular cloud going through the solar system a few billion years ago?
Not necessarily. It could be interpreted as meaning abiogenesis can readily occur inmost places where there is liquid water for long enough and abiogenesis occurred independently on that moon from that on Earth.
If there really will be bacteria discovered on that moon, the first thing I think we should look at is a physical sample of it and check if it has both RNA and the same or very similar RNA codon language as that universally found on Earth life. If it is the same or very similar, I would then think that couldn't credibly be mere coincidence so I would then agree with you else we must conclude abiogenesis occurs very often and independently occurred at least twice within our solar system.
Originally posted by humy Not necessarily. It could be interpreted as meaning abiogenesis can readily occur inmost places where there is liquid water for long enough and abiogenesis occurred independently on that moon from that on Earth.
If there really will be bacteria discovered on that moon, the first thing I think we should look at is a physical sample of it and check if it has b ...[text shortened]... abiogenesis occurs very often and independently occurred at least twice within our solar system.
"Not necessarily. It could be interpreted as meaning abiogenesis can readily occur inmost places where there is liquid water for long enough and abiogenesis occurred independently on that moon from that on Earth."
Just as plausible and no more or less wondrous than a DNA cloud in space, is a cloud of less complex molecules or atoms that form these things when in the presence of mineral substrate, moisture, atmosphere, and temperate climate.
Originally posted by JS357 "Not necessarily. It could be interpreted as meaning abiogenesis can readily occur inmost places where there is liquid water for long enough and abiogenesis occurred independently on that moon from that on Earth."
Just as plausible and no more or less wondrous than a DNA cloud in space, is a cloud of less complex molecules or atoms that form these things when in the presence of mineral substrate, moisture, atmosphere, and temperate climate.
One theory about how Europa turned red: Bacteria!
30 Jan '14 14:44
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