Life elsewhere

Yesterday, 2/12/2010, scientists at NASA announced the discovery of a new form of bacteria that uses arsenic as part of its basic biology, something previously thought impossible. Just imagine how difficult it would be to kill the bitch.

The bacteria appears to use the arsenic to replace phosphorous — possibly even in its DNA. Phosphorous was considered to be essential for all life, fish have lots of it, and so if confirmed, this discovery is a stunning affirmation of the idea that life can exist in forms wildly different from those normally found on Earth, and that in turn has enormous implications for how we should look for life elsewhere in the cosmos. Taken from TED talks solely and purely for ruminative purposes.

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