Tholins found outside solar system

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by kaneda, Jan 5, 2008.

  1. kaneda Actual Cynic Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,334
    An analysis of the dust by scientists revealed it was red. The wavelength of the light scattered off the dust suggests it contained large organic carbon molecules called tholins.

    These molecules are believed to have existed on the primitive Earth billions of years ago and may have created the 'biomolecules' that make up all living things.


    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ogy.html?in_article_id=506209&in_page_id=1965
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,876
    "Space dust which created human life found in another solar system"

    Stupidest... headline... ever.
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    When I read that someone "believes" they see something it makes me know right then and there that it is only speculation about something not real science. Scientists that study anything usually wait until they can prove what they find before going public with guessing at stuff.
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. kaneda Actual Cynic Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,334
    superluminal. What did you expect from a tabloid reporter when even people working for science mags sometimes come out with similar stuff? I think we can be thankful that it wasn't The Sun which carried the story which would have been : "Frankenstein dust making people in space" (or something similar).
     
  8. kaneda Actual Cynic Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,334
    That was long ago. A lot of the new stuff in science (notably in the field of space and QM) is little more than ideas.
     
  9. Hipparchia Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    648
    You have a peculiar view of things surely cosmictraveller. Let's set aside the fact that almost all published papers are reports on work in progress, and as such do not offer proof, but evidence for this or that.

    I think what is most confusing me about your post is that you are taking the words of a newspaper article and ascribing these words to the scientists themselves. I had this same sort of discussion with some else last month - it may even have been superluminal.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    I'm just at a loss to see why you can't distinguish between the science and a popular report on the science. (I think kaneda makes much the same point.)

    Debes, Weinberger and Scheinder, the authors of the report, state in the abstract "We combine HST/NICMOS imaging photometry of the HR 4796A disk at previously unobserved wavelengths between 1.71-2.22\micron with reprocessed archival observations to produce a measure of the dust's scattering efficiency as a function of wavelength. The spectrum of the dust, synthesized from the seven photometric measures, is characterized by a steep red slope increasing from 0.5 \micron to 1.6 \micron followed by a flattening of the spectrum at wavelengths $>$ 1.6 \micron. We fit the spectrum with a model population of dust grains made of tholins, materials comprised of complex organic materials seen throughout the outer parts of our Solar System. The presence of organic material around a star that may be in the later stages of giant planet formation implies that the basic building blocks for life may be common in planetary systems."

    That reads like real science to me and I don't notice any statements of belief in relation to the presence of tholins - just the simple observation that tholins are the most likely material to account for the observed properties. The speculative part of the research is clearly flagged as such, as my two highlighted words show, and constitutes only a tiny part of the whole paper.
     
  10. DwayneD.L.Rabon Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    999
    I'll just say that carbon is prsent in all solar systems, some solar system have planets who's suface is mostly carbon, and by which the majority of the planet is carbon by terrestial compostion ( the main componet of the planets in the solar system).

    There appears to be quite a bit of Carbon in our solar system, which is very complexed. most of the carbon in our solar system is within the terrestial structure of our planets and so has come to the surface by volcanic action,magnetic pole reversals, large collisions, and large scale chemical reactions. Non the less neutron collaspe results in atomic decay which occurs through out the solar system at the same time, when star ecclipse each other, or super novas happen.

    Carbon being of lower atomic weight is rather stable for building life forms, the normality of carbon gives carbon a longer time for life to gestate from carbon. Stable in terms of neutron collaspe where carbon would be safe in any part of the solar system. carbon also has a few draw backs such as in magnetic pole reversals that occur within a solar system which greatly increases the chance of exstinction within that solar system.

    As well Carbon is also very sensitve to planetary events and interactions with in a solar system, greatly increaseing the odss ofr life to form useing carbon.

    DwayneD.L.Rabon
     

Share This Page