On Wed, 07 Aug 1996 13:02:22 +0100, John Tant, N4XAN wrote:
[...]
JT>At 11:03 PM 8/6/96, Glenn Morton wrote:
GM>I just saw the Nightline report on the Martian microbes. The
>report will be in Science. Richard Zare stated that he had pictures
>of cell-like objects from the meteor plus hydrocarbons indicative of
>life. This reminds me of a photo in Fred Hoyle and Chandra
>Wickranasighe's book _Living Comets_ p. 69. Objects that look very
>much like Pedomicrobium were found in the Murchison meteor.
>Amino acids extracted from the Murchison meteor are predominately of the
>left handed form which is the form of amino acid that living systems make.
>See Engel et al, "Carbon Isotope Composition of individual Amino Acids"
>Nature 348 Nov 1, 1990 pp 47-48 and Engel and Nagy, "Enantiomeric
>Composition of Amino Acids in the Murchison Meteorite" Nature 296 Apr. 29,
>1982 p. 838--
My understanding is that the Murchison meteorite has fallen out of
favour as an example of extraterrestrial life, according to Davies:
"The Murchison meteorite which fell in Australia in 1969 has been
extensively examined for biological activity and found to contain
dozens of amino acids, including many that are common in terrestrial
organisms. There is also a hint of fossilized single-celled
organisms, which the British astronomer Fred Hoyle has claimed is
clear evidence of extraterrestrial life. Most scientists, however,
remain sceptical." (Davies P., "Are We Alone?: Philosophical
Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life", Penguin:
London, 1995, p12)
And Thaxton et al:
"Added to this is the suggestive discovery of amino acids in
meteorites, including some that are important in proteins. The
Murchison meteorite, which fell in Australia in 1969, contained dl
amino acids (more recent reports challenge this interpretation. See
Michael H. Engel and Bartholomew Nagy, 1982. Nature 296, 837),
including some proteinous ones. The presence of dl-amino acids was
considered proof of extraterrestrial origin, and evidence that the
meteorite was free of contamination from earth life. This is
significant because the meteorite fell on a sheep farm, where
remaining uncontaminated would be no trifling feat!" (Thaxton C.B.,
Bradley W.L. & Olsen R.L., "The Mystery of Life's Origin:
Reassessing Current Theories, Lewis & Stanley: Dallas TX, 1992,
pp192-193).
God bless.
Steve
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