Scientist Startled By Possibility of Deep Earth Life

Sunday, December 21, 2014

 

Possibility of widespread ‘deep-Earth life’ jolts scientists

What if Earth hosts another ‘biosphere’ of tiny microbial organisms deep below the surface?

 

When we think of life on Earth, we usually picture blue oceans, green forests and the big animals that live in both.

But what if Earth hosts another “biosphere” of tiny microbial organisms deep below the surface? And what if extraterrestrial life looks more like this deep, dark world than the sunny blue-green one we are familiar with?

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, research led by University of Toronto geoscientist Barbara Sherwood Lollar demonstrates that the environment that could host “deep-Earth life” is far vaster than previously imagined.

And the possibility that we could find the same thing on other planets received an electric jolt Tuesday with the announcement that NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover had detected a plume of methane on the red planet that spiked and then dissipated — a potential signal of microbial life.

“It’s a critical reminder that the oceans and rivers and lakes on Earth give us a skewed view of the places where life could exist and evolve in another setting or another planet,” said Lisa Pratt, a geochemist at Indiana University who was not involved in either paper. Pratt chairs the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, a community of scientists that advises NASA.

Both papers, Pratt says, suggest that “we better start looking for something that’s different than the common, ordinary, cellular life we’re used to seeing and studying on Earth.”

 

Sherwood Lollar’s announcement follows on two tantalizing pieces of research published in recent years.

In 2006, she and Pratt were among the co-authors of a Science paper that announced the discovery of bacteria living deep in a South African gold mine, completely isolated from sunlight — the fuel source for all of life on the surface of Earth. These microbes likely derived their energy from hydrogen gas produced by reactions between water and the surrounding rock — and they were estimated to have survived down there for between 3 million and 25 million years.

Then, last year, Sherwood Lollar was part of a team that described a similar environment. In a mine in Timmins, Ont., the scientists analyzed water in a deep fracture with similar chemistry to the South African mine. The water in the Timmins mine was billions of years old. The team is still analyzing that site for the existence of microbial life.

So Sherwood Lollar was curious. “How many places in the planet might we find more?”

By combing through the literature and visiting sites around the world, she and her Nature co-authors found dozens more ancient rock sites with similar chemistry, doubling previous estimates of the amount of energy available to deep life from water-rock reactions.

“Much more of the planet is actually potentially hospitable for deep life than we thought,” said Sherwood Lollar.

“It’s fantastic. I think it’s really, really exciting stuff,” says Jan Amend, a geochemist at the University of Southern California who was not involved in the research.

“If somebody told you all of a sudden that you had twice as much money in the bank as you thought you had, that would put a smile on your face,” he said. “That analogy works for microbiologists especially, because a lot of microorganisms use hydrogen as an energy source.”

Sherwood Lollar will present the findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting currently underway in San Francisco. That was where NASA scientists on Tuesday announced that the Mars rover had detected a tenfold spike in methane near the Gale Crater over the course of two months. Because the gas wouldn’t last long in the Martian atmosphere, something must have produced it recently and nearby.

The rover scientists acknowledged that one potential source is subsurface microbial life that releases methane as a waste product. But it also could have been produced through inorganic chemical reactions, and Mars has dashed our hopes as a host for life before.

But both papers will certainly spark a renewed interest in deep subsurface biospheres.

“Essentially what this says is that the subsurface of our entire planet is likely a feasible place for life to take hold,” said Sherwood Lollar. “So when we think about how much of our planet is alive, we are no longer thinking about just a thin veneer on the surface.”

Source

Chemistry Discovered On Mars Which are Strong Indicators of Life

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Chemistry Discovered On Mars Which are Strong Indicators of Life

The first definitive detection of Martian organic chemicals in material on the surface of Mars came from analysis by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover of sample powder from this mudstone target, "Cumberland."

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory's drill.

"This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source," said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a member of the Curiosity rover science team. "There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock."

Researchers used Curiosity's onboard Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) laboratory a dozen times in a 20-month period to sniff methane in the atmosphere. During two of those months, in late 2013 and early 2014, four measurements averaged seven parts per billion. Before and after that, readings averaged only one-tenth that level.

Ten Children Recounting Their Past Lives And Reincarnation

 Ten Children Recounting Their Past Lives AndReincarnation

10 AMAZING THINGS KIDS HAVE SAID ABOUT PAST LIVES

Many parents report that their children say things to them which can only be explained in terms of past lives.   This phenomenon has been studied by scientists and psychologists alike because of the vast amount of cases that have surfaced in recent decades. Here are 10 amazing things kids have said to their parents about what they remember from a previous lifetime reported in the Epoch Times:

1. When my son was 3, he told me that he really likes his new daddy, he’s really nice. My husband is his one and only daddy.  I asked ‘Why is that?’

He replied: ‘My old daddy was really mean. He stabbed me in the back and I died. But I really like my new daddy, he’d never do that to me.’

2. When I was a little girl, I lost [it] when I saw some guy at the grocery store. It was unusual, because I was generally quiet and well behaved. I never had to be taken out of somewhere for misbehaving, but we had to leave the store.

When my mom asked what was wrong when we got in the car, I told her he took me away from my first mom and hid me under his floor and made me sleep for a long time until I woke up with my new mom.

I then refused to sit in the seat of the car on the ride home, but insisted on cowering under the dash board so he couldn’t take me again. It freaked her … out, as she is definitely my biological mother, so obviously my ‘first’ mom.

3. Getting my 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter out of the bath one night, my wife and I were briefing her on how important it was she kept her privates clean. She casually replied: ‘Oh, nobody “scroofs” me there. They tried one night. They kicked the door in and tried, but I fought back. I died and now I’m here.’  She said this like it was nothing.

4. ‘Before I was born here, I had a sister, right?   Her and my other mom are so old now. They were OK when the car was on fire, but I sure wasn’t!’

He was maybe 5 or 6 years old. It was totally out of the blue.

5. When my little sister was younger, she used to walk around the house with a picture frame with a picture of my great grandpa in her hands crying and saying, “I miss you Harvey.”

Harvey had died before even I was born. Other than this common occurrence, my mom told me that she would constantly say things that my great grandma Lucy would say.

6. When my little sister first started talking, she used to say some really disturbing things. She used to tell us about how her old family would put things inside of her and would make her cry, but her Daddy eventually burned her so much that she was able to find us, her new family.

She spoke about things like that from the ages of almost 2 to 4. She was much too young to have ever been exposed to any content where children, or anyone else could [experience those things], so my family has always thought she held memories of a prior life.

7. Between the ages of 2 and 6, my son would tell me the same story of how he picked me to be his mother.

He said something about being with a man in a suit and picking a mother that would help him accomplish his souls mission. … We didn’t discuss spirituality … nor was he raised in any sort of religious environment.

The way he described it was that it was similar to grocery shopping, that he was in a bright room with people who were lined up like dolls, and that he picked me. The man in the suit asked him if he was sure, he replied that he was, and then he was born.

My son also had an early fascination with WWII era planes. He could identify them, their parts, what region they were used in, and the like. I still have no idea where he got that information. I’m a science gal, his dad is a math guy.

We have always called him ‘Grandpa,’ because of his peaceful and gingerly demeanor. This kid seriously has an old soul.

8. My nephew when he first began really talking in sentences told my sister and her husband that he was ‘so happy he picked them.’ And then went on to say that before he was a baby he was in a bright room and saw lots of people and he ‘picked his Mom because she had a nice face.’

9.  My older sister was born the year my Dad’s mom died. According to my dad, as soon as my sister was old enough to say the words, she said ‘I am your mother.’

10. According to my mom, when I was younger, I would tell her about how I had died in a fire a long time ago. I don’t remember that, but one of my biggest fears is my house burning down. Just being around open fire scares me.

Near Death Experience - Woman Claims to Have Seen Afterlife

Friday, December 12, 2014

NearDeath Experience - Woman Claims to Have Seen Afterlife

Woman Saw Afterlife Shortly After Death 

The amazing thing about these near death experiences (NDE) is that they have been recorded for hundreds if not thousands of years and they are virtually all the same. Some much much more detailed than others but the basic story has remained consistent throughout time. 

Ruby and hospital staff

40-year-old Ruby Graupera-Cassimir was about to be pronounced dead after after 45 minutes with no pulse.

She spontaneously resuscitated just before doctors were going to pronounce the time of death. Ruby recalls seeing a being she believes was her dad accompanied by other beings. She felt a force telling her she had to go back. 

The doctors say her experience was a product of Divine Intervention. 

New Simple Technology Bends Light Making Objects Invisible

Thursday, December 11, 2014

New Simple Technology Bends Light Making Objects Invisible

I am posting this for two reasons, first it is an interesting story that highlights some emerging technology. Secondly many people have a hard time believing that UFO have cloaking devices. In fact, it would be very odd if UFOs did not have the ability to cloak.

This is a really simple yet amazing project. It uses 4 lenses to control light in such a way that it renders an object invisible. When the light enters the first lens, it flips the image upside down. The second lens sends the light straight into the 3rd lens. The 3rd lens focuses the light into a point about 3 inches past the lens. Since the light is focused into a point, any object placed around that point cannot be seen when looking through the lenses. The light is essentially bending around the object. Once the light hits the point just past the 3rd lens, it then flips back right side up. This allows the background image to pass through all of the lenses without warping or being seen as upside down.

Aberdeen Ufologist Believes The Universe Is Awash With Life

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Aberdeen Ufologist Believes The Universe Is Awash With Life

CHASING THE UNBELIEVABLE

Sixty years ago, a football match in Florence was halted when UFOs were spotted overhead. But not long after, and a lot closer to home, the sky in north-east Scotland was just as busy, raising the question – are we alone?

In June 1956, an unidentified flying object was seen by hundreds of north-east residents in broad daylight. At about 7am, a huge sphere estimated to be 800 feet in diameter appeared in the sky, initially off the coast of Fraserburgh but then moving to about a mile off the Aberdeen coastline.

At 11am, two RAF jets were seen approaching the object and then encircling it in a wide arc four or five times – a manoeuvre many suspect was carried out to photograph the object.

Soon after the jets departed, the object seemed to climb to a higher altitude and disappeared from sight. But as the military jets’ contrails drifted in the morning’s westerly winds, the UFO returned to full view for spectators below before finally, at approximately 2.30pm, disappearing for good.

It was a shocking and perplexing sight that has stuck in the mind of Aberdeen resident Ian Taylor. He was then a young pupil at Bankhead Academy and remembers watching the enigmatic scene unfold.

“It was golden and metallic,” he said. “It was a beautiful thing. From the ground perspective, it looked like a sphere.”

5 Questions on ET Life With Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

5 Questions on ET Life With Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf

Is there intelligent life in the universe? 5 questions with astrobiologist Caleb Scharf

Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th century Polish astronomer and mathematician, wasn't the first to suggest that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe—the idea originated with the ancient Greeks—but he was the first to prove it with a mathematical theorem. By doing so he upended the notion that Earth is unique, giving rise to the idea that there might be life on other planets.

Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf tackles this complex topic in his newest book, The Copernicus Complex. "I've wondered if we're alone in the universe since I was a child, and everyone I've ever known has thought about it at some point," said the British-born astronomer and physicist, who is director of the Columbia Astrobiology Center.

His research focuses on the study of exoplanets and exomoons, planets and moons outside our own solar system. The center he founded in 2005 includes Columbia faculty from the departments of astronomy, microbiology, climate science, geophysics and astrophysics, and has partnerships with NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the American Museum of Natural History. Its aim is to investigate phenomena related to the origin of life on Earth and on other planets.

The Sunday Times of London just named Scharf's book as its Science Book of the Year. His previous book, Gravity's Engines, about black holes, was listed by New Scientist magazine as one of the 10 books to read in 2012. He is also the author of a popular blog on Scientific American's website called Life, Unbounded.

What do you mean by the "Copernicus Complex?"

It's a phrase that's trying to capture our struggle with one of the biggest questions that we can ask as a species: Are we alone in the universe? Copernican thinking led to the idea that life on Earth, and the Earth itself, aren't special. It's an idea known as cosmic mediocrity, and if that's true, then there has to be lots of other life out there. That was mainstream thinking for a long time.

What have scientists learned that has changed this view?

In the last 20 years we've discovered that planets are pretty much everywhere, which opens up a whole new vista of possibilities. But we've also learned that certain specific conditions must be necessary for life to exist. The question is, what are those conditions, and what are the implications for life's cosmic abundance? In the book I try to reconcile the evidence that suggests planetary life might be common versus the evidence supporting the idea that life on Earth is special and unique. Life equally complex could exist on different planets, but it may have turned out very differently.

Where do you stand on the idea of life on other planets?

There are people out there who really believe in UFOs and humanoid species wandering around in Nevada—if only! I'd put my money on most aliens being microbes, but I think there's complex life too. When we talk about the possibility of technologically intelligent life out there, we're imposing our prejudices on the unknown. Our type of intelligence has only happened once in four billion years on Earth, as far as we know. What if life can be extraordinarily diverse? We could miss a lot simply because it doesn't look familiar. Do I believe there is life on other planets? I'd say yes—we're probably already staring at the right places, but to know for sure we need better data.

How have your research interests changed since you started your career?

I did research on the Big Bang and cosmology for many years. But the discovery of other planetary systems and our expanding knowledge of terrestrial biology helped convince me to switch my research focus. Looking for life in the universe is not easy. It will require a great deal of luck in the next few years. We're looking for life markers in the chemical imbalances of small planets around other stars—that's very difficult. It worries me, and I pace up and down a lot and bite my nails! But it is also exciting, and it pushes our scientific ingenuity to the limits.

Do you think there is something special about Earth and its inhabitants?

At the very end of my book I propose that there is something special about us. We observe, we take notes, but we also have the option to change the equation. We can physically reach beyond our origins. In principle our spacecraft can explore interstellar space, and maybe we can, too. As far as we know, no other species here or elsewhere has had that option—certainly no one's shown up yet. We can actually extend the reach of our species, change the balance of life in the cosmos.

Source

Russians Locate Huge Asteroid That Crosses Earths Orbit - Video

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Russians Locate Huge Asteroid That Crosses Earths Orbit - Video

Russian scientist spies mountain-sized asteroid heading our way

In a video posted online Sunday, astrophysicist Vladimir Lipunov says the newly discovered asteroid could collide with Earth during its three-year orbital cycle. A giant meteor exploded over a Russian city in 2013.

Scientist think that the giant asteroid broke up long ago in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

A Russian astrophysicist says his team has located a huge, mountain-sized asteroid whose orbit crosses the Earth's every three years.

Even though experts say the giant object, known as 2014 UR116, poses no immediate threat of collision, its unexpected discovery underscores how little is still known about asteroids and their unpredictable orbits. 

Vladimir Lipunov, a professor at Moscow State University, announced the find in a short documentary (see below), "Asteroid Attack," posted on the website of the Russian Space Agency on Sunday. Mr. Lipunov says the asteroid, which he calculates is 370 meters in diameter, could hit the Earth with an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise 2013 impact of a bus-sized meteor in Russia. That object entered Earth’s atmosphere over the city of Chelyabinsk, resulting in a series of ferocious blasts that blew out windows and damaged buildings for miles around.

In the film, Lipunov says it's difficult to calculate the orbit of big objects like 2014 UR116 because, as they hurtle through the solar system, their trajectories are constantly being altered by the gravitational pull of nearby planets. "We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences," he said. 

Is Life A Random Accident? Or Is There Purpose In Our Universe

Exciting evidence is emerging from the study of stars and comets showing us the universe is far more suited to support life than we previously thought. This new evidence has dramatic implications for how we approach some of the most important global issues.

Is The Universe A Life Factory?

Life seems to pop up everywhere we look. On earth we have extremophiles or organisms that thrive in “extreme” conditions. Extreme, of course, refers to what humans or most other organisms would be capable of surviving.  They are often thought of as bacteria but are actually a diverse group of many kinds of organisms. Extreme hot or cold? A thermophile or cryophile has that covered. Crazy high pressure? A piezophile/barophile calls that home. Surly nothing thrives in radioactive environments? …Except  some of the toxitolerants… they quiet love it (source).

Not only is life propagating in the harshest “uninhabitable” corners of the earth, but more and more evidence is surfacing that life can at least survive and possibly arrived from the “harsh” conditions of space. For instance, a species of plankton was found living on the outer surface of the Russian space station ISS. Although ISS denies the organisms originated from space itself, the likelihood that the space shuttle brought it from earth is pretty low since the species is not known to exist in the region where the space shuttle took off (source).

There are also some exciting clues surfacing  that suggest how life is generated and propagated throughout the galaxy. Some of these include evidence that compounds similar to those integral to biological organisms are present in the formation of stars and these compounds and/or full blown organisms themselves may travel through space via comets.

Credit & Copyright: Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn (Weather and Sky Photography)

For instance, there is evidence that suggests stars may actuallycreate the essential “ingredients” for life.  Researchers found molecules with a similar structure to amino acids (the building blocks of life) present in a so called “star nursery” at the center of the Milky Way (source).  Once formed by stars, the essential “ingredients” or possibly fully formed organisms may be frozen and transferred onto traveling comets for deposit on planets when they approach or collide, a theory David Wilcock discusses in theSynchronicity Key.  Tantalizing evidence that supports this include reports of organic compounds detected by the recently famed Philae, or first probe deployed on a moving comet, indicating increased likelihood of life there (source).  Even more compelling is the confirmed evidence from researchers analyzing rocks from a comet that crashed to earth verifying the presence of fossilized fully formed microscopic organisms (source).