TEDTalks: Finding life we can't imagine

[xSilverPhinx]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F17_KiAZOxg&feature=feedu

I just watched this, and thought I'd share.

Just as languages have a 'signature', that is, the letter frequency of any language is roughly the same in any generic text written in that language, this speaker's looking for a biosignature contained in aminoacid frequency. The idea behind this is to help NASA find traces of life in samples from outer space.

[Recusant]

Thank you for posting this video. It seems that he's talking about more than amino acids here; any anomalous chemical signature might be worth examining more closely.

[xSilverPhinx]

I'm going to add the description here, just in case there are people who don't give a damn about aminoacids but might be interested in the topic:

How do we search for alien life if it's nothing like the life that we know? At TEDxUIUC Christoph Adami shows how he uses his research into artificial life -- self-replicating computer programs -- to find a signature, a 'biomarker,' that is free of our preconceptions of what life is.

Thank you for posting this video. It seems that he's talking about more than amino acids here; any anomalous chemical signature might be worth examining more closely.

That's what I thought was interesting about this TED Talk. The whole idea behind it is to first try and find a way of being able to tell if something is alive and how, using chemical signatures. I never thought of that before

That is, assuming that traces of other lifeforms that might be contained in samples are carbon-based.  

[Tank]

{snip}

That is, assuming that traces of other lifeforms that might be contained in samples are carbon-based.  

Given the ubiquity of carbon and its unique chemical properties I would think it would highly improbable that any life would not be carbon based in enviroments contingent with the Goldilocks Zone associated with liquid water.

[OldGit]

If we find alien life, who will attack first?  Are we/they edible to them/us?  Which side will be first to send religious missionaries to convert the other?  Will we try to impose democracy on them?
It's not possible we could be friends and leave each other alone - we couldn't do that even if they could.

[xSilverPhinx]

{snip}

That is, assuming that traces of other lifeforms that might be contained in samples are carbon-based. 

Given the ubiquity of carbon and its unique chemical properties I would think it would highly improbable that any life would not be carbon based in enviroments contingent with the Goldilocks Zone associated with liquid water.

I think so too, in fact, I believe that life is inevitable given the abundance of carbon in the universe, but silicon also allows for complex chemistry, though less.

Whether it's possible to have a life form that is silicon based is another story (I have no idea). Maybe there's a minimum limit to the complexity needed for a living being. 

If we find alien life, who will attack first?  Are we/they edible to them/us?  Which side will be first to send religious missionaries to convert the other?  Will we try to impose democracy on them?
It's not possible we could be friends and leave each other alone - we couldn't do that even if they could.

There was a thread on a Catholic forum where they were discussing whether they should go proselytise to the aliens if any were ever found. I find the idea hilarious.