Tuesday 30 August 2011

We are Stardust after all...DNA components found in meteorites

DNA components found in meteorites
Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A recently published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America indicates that the essential building blocks for early life on Earth may have indeed been delivered through extraterrestrial material such as meteorites. These molecules, known as nucleobases, are key components of DNA and have been found in meteorites several times before.

However, until now, scientists could never be certain that these compounds were native to the meteorites or if they were simply contamination from the terrestrial environment in which they landed. To this end, researchers analyzed eleven different organic-rich meteorites, called carbonaceous chondrites, for the presence of nucleobases and found that three of these molecules are very rare on Earth.

Additionally, none of these nucleobases were found in the soil or ice in close proximity to where the meteorites were found. This led the researchers to conclude that it was likely that these molecules were extraterrestrial in origin which could mean that life on Earth may have originally been seeded by such material.

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!






Tuesday 23 August 2011

Earthquake in Toronto and G20 remembered

We just had an earthquake in Toronto! The building shook and creaked! I am on the 11th floor - ah!

Last year at this time there was an earthquake as well and I was on the 4th floor downtown, supporting some guy on his computer. What a feeling to look at someone and think the person may be the last person I talk to. I took off downstairs. I went outside (not too smart in hindsight because things drop on you – even if you are looking down, Pooh.) I walked to a place with a wide open space – Queen’s Park. There were cops everywhere and horseback cops and cops with bulletproof vest and helmets and riot gear. There was a protest group with signs that were being marshalled down University Avenue. There were people everywhere in disarray. Somewhere a car burned. The G20. Remember that?