ASU researcher may have discovered key to life before its origin on Earth

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

But they don't know what causes this bias. I wonder what it could be...

Two theories I have heard;
Polarisation of light in interstellar space or elsewhere causes certain molecules to be favoured in certain regions; perhaps if the universe as a whole were considered the bias would even itself out.
Or
A bias in the very make up of our universe- in particular the parity violation in certain interactions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parity_...rity_violation
Somehow, but I don't know if anyone knows quite how, this might bias the handedness of biological molecules all over the universe.

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I'd like to know more about the "pristine nature" of this meteor. It's been sitting around for all these years, what kept it so minty fresh?

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Perhaps it's the internals of the meteorite that remained pristine/uncontaminated.

Pristine? Some of those meteorites landed in manure. Claims were made in 2000 that extraterrestrial life had been found in them. Strangely enough exactly the sort of life you find on a rock if you throw in the middle of a farmyard.

Cool, so does this mean aliens will also be mostly right-handed?

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

Excellent.

"In other words, a molecular trait that defines life seems to have broader distribution as well as a long cosmic lineage."

Might as well have said "cosmic ancestry," but could this be considered supportive of panspermia?

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

so the CA was a cacky-hander (sorry to all other LHers for the crude reference). Anyway, a bias in the orientation of precursor organic molecules, hardly constitues the transmission of biological information of such complexity that it supplants evolution as CA claims, now does it, or is this what you have been reduced to claiming, since all else has been debunked. A hydrogen atom can have a long 'cosmic lineage' omg..ca!

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plenty of woo, at the hotel hoagaland...

I've not made any claims nor am I aware "all else has been debunked" which regards strong panspermia, or as you say, the cacky-hander CA.

Whatever the case, this simply appears to reinforce the notion that physics and chemistry are everywhere the same, which, IMO, supports panspermia.

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

No, just a confirmation that the materials of life are common. We already knew that the molecular precursors of life were common, this is just another refinement of that. Still just raw materials, nothing about panspermia, or actual extraterrestrial life.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

I'm sure carbon chemistry is universal, but it's so astonishly diverse that I wonder if we would characterise most of its complex manifestations as "life".

I am, are you?

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Would the chemicals of life be other-handed if they are made of antimatter?

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

I don't know you well enough to assess possible sarcasm.

The possible life detected in the Martian meteorite was not anything like what you would find if you flung it in a barnyard. In fact it was like nothing on earth at all.

It was uniquely small, which is in fact one of the things that led to the current understanding that it was not life.

However, I would say the case is not closed; like many things in science, the investigation goes on.

Wasn't nano-bacteria theorized to actually exist on Earth and be the cause of many common 'mystery' ailments and conditions? I only have a vague recollection of this, having read about it years ago, so don't know if things have moved on since then or whether the idea has been debunked.

DrWho,
AFAIK, it remains speculative, and an area of continuing reserach.

I don't recall any legitimate connection to mystery ailments, but of course, nothing should be dismissed outright.

He couldn't have been talking about the Martian meteorite, as that didn't land in a farmyard. It landed in Antarctica.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

And that's what's curious about it; couldn't biological processes on the meteorite's parent body as well be a plausible explanation for the excess handedness in these amino acids? Is it not a defining characteristic of life as we know it? Is it necessary to hold to some unknown natural process as the only explanation?
If the ingredients for Life are more abundant off planet than on, chemistry and physics are everywhere the same, and hallmarks of Life like this excess handedness in amino acids are found in meteorites free of earthly contaminates, why not suggest possible et life or panspermia?

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

Right, he was referring to the Murchison meteorite which was strewn across pastures. Even still, this finding seems to reinforce what they found 10yrs ago, an excess left handedness in amino acids.

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

Lack of evidence. There's nothing to suggest that handedness of spaceborne molecules is a result rather than a cause of handedness in known life. And space is also more abundant in conditions hostile to life than Earth is.

All we've proved is that we're made of common materials. Again.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Nope. Beings higher on the evolutionary chain are nearly always left-handed, assuming of course they HAVE hands.

I speak from experience...most right-handers are evolutionary throwbacks doomed to wallow in their stagnant genetic wading pool until the Extinction Train runs them over, clearing the way for us Lefties.

Not hat I'm biased, of course.

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Angel of the Abyss
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"I am Ripper...Tearer...Slasher...Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength...and Lust...and Power! I AM BEOWULF!"

'

Murchinson was collected within hours of falling near Murchison Victoria and key samples were curated under ultra-clean conditions. I assume that these are the ones that were studied.

Jon

If it lays outside on the ground for a few hours, it's already no longer "ultra-clean". The five-second rule was busted on Mythbusters.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

We are dealing with the interior of the meteorite, not the exterior.

The importance of the Murchison was recognised on discovery and considerable lengths were go to to minimise organic contamination and to differentiate between indigenous organic matter and ny terrestrial materials.

And while entertaining I would not take mythbusters as gospel or relevant

Jon

Blasphemy!

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Actually I can think of at least three stories where I think they did either demonstrate their conclusion, their assumptions were flawed, or their methods were questionable. But that is something for another thread...

Is handedness in life on earth a result or a cause?
I don't know, but given it seems to define life as we know it I still find it curious "there's nothing to suggest."

But do you consider the earth's biosphere to be a closed system?

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

Never said it was or wasn't. I said life incorporates common materials. That doesn't mean common materials equal life.

Er, no, it doesn't. It defines common organic molecules, some of which are used in living organisms. And many of which are not.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Doesn't answer my question.

Well, as I understand it, until recently such handedness was considered a result of biological processes. It seems that finding such characteristics in space borne molecules is what prompted speculation about natural processes being the cause. Instead of suggesting this handedness might possibly reflect biological processes in space, or off planet, we're given some unknown natural process with a widespread and long cosmic lineage explanation.

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

Actually, as discussed in a separate thread elsewhere on this forum, the parity explanation might have more to do with this than panspermia does;
see this link
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C1A960948260
Note that I personally don't dismiss all forms of panspermia, especially lithopanspermia within planetary systems (and perhaps between member stars of a cluster) but that process, even if widespread, wouldn't explain the handedness of molecules in space.

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New Orion's Arm Site . The Starlark . Against a Diamond Sky (OA Novella Collection) . OA Flickr set