That does make me smile, rave. "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: ravena...@yahoo.com Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:06:56 +0000 Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Alien Life May Be on Earth: Scientist I saw this in the newspaper today (yeah, I'm old school like that) and the notion both intrigues and fascinates me. The idea of microscopic life has intrigued writers for centuries. I think of "Horton Hears a Who" or the money shot at the end of "Men in Black" off the top of my head. Imagine, as we live on earth, civilizations may live on (and in) us. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@...> wrote: > > Alien Life May Be on Earth: ScientistAre aliens already among us? > <http://omnikool.discovery.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-microbes-earth.html/211439930/Top3/default/empty.gif/67504861466b74544355344143765a37?x> > Tue Jan 26, 2010 01:59 PM ET | content provided by Raphael G. Satter, > Associated Press > [image: Alien Life May Be on Earth: Scientist] > > According to Paul Davies, an award-winning Arizona State University > physicist, alien life could be lurking "right under our noses -- or even in > our noses." > *Getty Images* > > *THE GIST:* > > - *Some microbes here on Earth may have originated in space, according to > one scientist.* > - *Proving that some life forms on Earth are of alien origin would be > fraught with difficulties.* > > > ------------------------------ > > For the past 50 years, scientists have scoured the skies for radio signals > from beyond our planet, hoping for some sign of extraterrestrial > life<http://news.discovery.com/earth/its-the-end-of-the-world-its-an-alien-invasion-no-its-a-cloud.html>. > But one physicist says there's no reason alien life couldn't already be > lurking among us -- or maybe even in us. > > Paul Davies, an award-winning Arizona State University physicist known for > his popular science writing said Tuesday that life may have developed on > Earth not once but several times. > > Davies said the variant life forms -- most likely tiny microbes -- could > still be hanging around "right under our noses -- or even in our noses." > > "How do we know all life on Earth descended from a single origin?" he told a > conference at London's prestigious Royal Society, which serves as Britain's > academy of sciences. "We've just scratched the surface of the microbial > world." > > The idea that alien micro-organisms could be hiding out here on Earth has > been discussed for a while, according to Jill Tarter, the director of the > U.S. SETI project, which listens for signals from civilizations based around > distant stars. > > She said several of the scientists involved in the project were interested > in pursuing the notion, which Davies earlier laid out in a 2007 article > published in *Scientific American* in which he asked: "Are aliens among us?" > > So far, there's no answer. And ever finding one would be fraught with > difficulties, as Davies himself acknowledged. > > Unusual organisms abound -- including chemical-eating bacteria which hide > out deep in the ocean and organisms that thrive in boiling-hot springs -- > but that doesn't mean they're different life forms entirely. > > "How weird do they have to be to suggest a second genesis as opposed to just > an obscure branch of the family tree?" he said. Davies suggested that the > only way to prove an organism wasn't "life as we know it" was if it were > built using exotic elements which no other form of life had. > [image: garbage] > *WATCH VIDEO: Will the real ET be little green men or little green bacteria? > * <http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-alien-speculation.html> > > *Related Links:* > ------------------------------ > > > - *Alien Abductions: Idiocy of the Worst > Kind*<http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-abductions-idiocy-of-the-worst-kind.html> > - *Man Looks for Aliens, Loses > Job*<http://news.discovery.com/space/man-looks-for-aliens-loses-job.html> > - *HowStuffWorks.com: > Aliens*<http://science.howstuffworks.com/alien-physiology.htm> > - *Kepler Telescope to Scout for Alien > Worlds*<http://news.discovery.com/space/kepler-telescope-alien-life.html> > > > ------------------------------ > > Such organisms have yet to be found. Davies also noted that less than 1 > percent of all the world's bacteria had been comprehensively studied -- > leaving plenty of time to find unusual organisms. > > "You cannot tell just by looking that a microbe has some radically different > inner chemistry," he said. > > Davies' call for alien-hunting scientists to look to their own backyards > came as one of the pioneers of the search for > extraterrestrial<http://news.discovery.com/space/the-search-for-extraterrestrial-polluters.html>intelligence > told the conference the job of finding proof of alien life in > outer space may be more difficult than previously thought. > > Frank Drake, who conducted the first organized search for alien radio > signals in 1960, said that the Earth -- which used to pump out a loud mess > of radio waves, television signals and other radiation -- has been steadily > getting quieter as its communications technology improves. > > Drake cited the switch from analogue to digital > television<http://news.discovery.com/tech/future-tv-wide-angle.html>-- > which uses a far weaker signal -- and the fact that much more > communications traffic is now relayed by satellites and fiber optic cables, > limiting its leakage into outer space. > > "Very soon we will become very undetectable," he said. If similar processes > were taking place in other technologically advanced societies, then the > search for them "will be much more difficult than we imagined." > > But Drake said scientists at SETI were excited by the possibility of using > lasers to send super-bright flashes of light into space for a tiny fraction > of a second. The flashes could theoretically be seen up by an advanced > civilization up to 1,000 light years away, and Tarter said infrared versions > of the devices could possibly send beams even further. > > But Drake noted that the interstellar equivalent to turning a flashlight on > and off only works if a prospective alien civilization wants to get in touch > to begin with. > > "For this to work ... there has to be altruism in the universe," he said. > > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ > _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/196390707/direct/01/
