 December 2, 2010 - 12:32pm | Big news today from NASA: http://gizmodo.com/5704158/ This brings to mind all the discussion of silicon and fluorine based lifeforms. The universe is indeed a strange place, and life does indeed find a way. Long live the Frontier! |
 December 2, 2010 - 4:40pm | Just when I was thinking of adding a crystal based alien race to the Frontier....Now I'll be accused of stealing ideas from reality too... "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
 December 2, 2010 - 4:53pm | He he.. But seriously, what would a hamburger be like on "Arsenic instead of Phosphorus" world? Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men. Edwin Louis Cole |
 December 2, 2010 - 5:45pm | Dude, this is totally freakin' awesome! This is perfect timing, just as I was back working on Gamma Dawn. This will go great! It also shows how versatile and dominant DNA truly is. I can't wait to find out what else can go in the place of arsenic/phospherous or if another element can be changed out in the DNA code, or what arsenic-based life can produce. Man, arsenic changing out with phospherous gives a new meaning to DNA as "building blocks of life". View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
December 2, 2010 - 5:59pm | Follow the links. This year's discoveries are dramatically increasing the possibilities of life on other worlds. From the red dwarf flooded galaxies to the earth-like planet discovered as 4th rock from Gliese 581, a red dwarf, no less. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
 December 2, 2010 - 11:17pm | Arsenic-based life. I bet no one ever saw that coming. As for life on other planets, I've always held to that belief, even without evidence. Just too improbable that out of all the stars in all the galaxies of the universe, we're the only ones who achieved sentience(politicians don't count....). " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 December 3, 2010 - 12:08pm | Arsenic-based life. I bet no one ever saw that coming. Hasn't silocone based life been discovered in CA? I was under the impression it had a higher population density in places like Rodeo Drive. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 3, 2010 - 2:23pm | Arsenic-based life. I bet no one ever saw that coming. Hasn't silocone based life been discovered in CA? I was under the impression it had a higher population density in places like Rodeo Drive. And, Hashbury. Don't forget Hashbury....  " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 December 4, 2010 - 4:18pm | Bottom of the ocean and in some really deep volcano vents there is some silicon based life and now we have arsenic based life. Wonder what kind we will find next? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 4, 2010 - 9:21pm | There is still no silicon-based life. There are lifeforms that can process silicon in some fashion, such as in constructing certain structures in the bodies. The concept of silicon-based life is that it replaces carbon with silicon. In the case of this newly discovered bacteria, it substitutes arsenic for phosphorus, which is fundamental for life as we knew it. As I understand it, DNA was believed to require phosphorus for metabolic function, and arsenic is toxic to most life as it replaces the phosphorus, retarding metabolism. That's why this carbon-based, arsenic using lifeform is so intriguing. It does something formerly thought impossible, and its metabolic chemistry is different from anything else on Earth. Long live the Frontier! |
December 4, 2010 - 9:21pm | There is still no silicon-based life. There are lifeforms that can process silicon in some fashion, such as in constructing certain structures in the bodies. The concept of silicon-based life is that it replaces carbon with silicon. In the case of this newly discovered bacteria, it substitutes arsenic for phosphorus, which is fundamental for life as we knew it. As I understand it, DNA was believed to require phosphorus for metabolic function, and arsenic is toxic to most life as it replaces the phosphorus, retarding metabolism. That's why this carbon-based, arsenic using lifeform is so intriguing. It does something formerly thought impossible, and its metabolic chemistry is different from anything else on Earth. Long live the Frontier! |
December 6, 2010 - 4:47pm | Thanks for saving me that explanation, Gargoyle. These are the first lifeforms we've come across that actually have any part of the DNA chain replaced with anything. Also, technically, this is also not "arsenic-based". It is still a carbon-based lifeform with an arsenic, instead of phospherous structure. This means that it needs a lot more arsenic in its diet and a lot less phospherous than we do. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
