Have scientists really thought that life could only exist if it were similar to life on Earth?
Arrogance never ceases to amaze/annoy me?
“Research conducted by biochemist Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon from the U.S. Geological Survey has turned the quest for alien life on its ear, suggesting that phosphorous, carbon, and the other fundamental elements found in every living thing on Earth aren’t the only signs of life.
‘. . . we’ve always defined life as something that has the exact same chemistry as a life-form on Earth.’ The new discovery will likely change that equation, because it means the basic building blocks of DNA are not quite what we thought. ’It’s a paradigm shift,’ says Dimitar Sasselov, an astrobiologist who leads the Origins of Life Initiative at Harvard University. ‘The possibility that Earth-life biochemistry is not universal is a transformational concept. It fills the search [for alien life] with optimism. NASA is moving in a good overall direction. What is needed is to take alternatives for life’s chemistry to heart and fund research work better.’”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/alien-life-nasa-titan-arsenic-bacteria/#ixzz170atvVbG
