Posted inAstrobiology Life
Grave Expectations
The problem with trying to codify an official protocol for recognizing biosignatures:
We can try to devise rules for how detecting alien life should unfold, but E.T. might not play along.
Posted inLife Life on Mars NASA Synthetic Biology
NASA Headquarters Misses the Ball. Polyelectrolytes as the Key to Agnostic Life Finding
Synthetic biology, 20 years ago, taught NASA how to search generally, agnostically, and universally for alien life. NASA still does not understand the opportunity
Posted inAstrobiology Life NASA
2022 State of NASA Address: Astrobiology at NASA no longer looks for life on Mars
NASA gave up on looking for life on Mars, while planning to irreversibly biologically contaminate its surface. It is now up to private philanthropists to support life searching missions, while Mars is still biologically pristine. We know how to do it.
Posted inAstrobiology Life Origin of Life
Why searching for extraterrestrial life with a universal biosignature detection framework is a mistake.
A couple of weeks ago a group affiliated with NASA released a “white paper” claiming that scientists need a universal biosignature detection framework for searching for extraterrestrial life.
Unfortunately, there is a serious problem with the first part of their proposal.
Posted inLife
Null hypothesis: the term ‘life’ is not needed in biology
Before we go any deeper in the Universal Theory of Life debate we need to examine the following null hypothesis: ‘Life’ exists only as a concept. We mistakenly assume that 'life' exists independently of our culture as a natural phenomenon, just like we did with ‘luminiferous aether’, ‘preformationist’s homunculi’, and ‘vital force’. A theory of life is as useful as a theory of ‘phlogiston’.
Posted inLife
Universal Theory of Life, a debate
A useful definition-theory of life drives research into origins and synthetic biology.