Life Discovered Thriving in Trinidadian Lake of Hydrocarbons, Suggesting Titan Could Support Life Too

So can we take the life from pitch lake and adapt them to live on Titan. That way when we get there with a probe or what ever if the place is sterile we can seed it with life.

that is an idea but we will need to thoroughly search every inch of it before seeding it with life because if we miss something there, then our little creatures could wipe out the only natives. I would rather take extra care to be able to study actual alien organisms rather than kill em all off before finding them.

30bcf4e2

Here we go again! - wishful thinking from the godless science crowd! Lets face it - for life to "occur" from a combination of chemicals etc. is highly speculative at best. Until or unless we find it, I believe that earth has the ONLY life in the universe. I dont find that a scary or ridiculous thought. The cosmos is a mind boggling place of huge distances and speeds, not to mention the distortion of time and space that occur with massive objects. Earth is unique - accept it - no harm in exploring around in our little pocket of space and time that is accessible to us using our limited senses and even more limited means of locomotion.

science is god... life did "occur" from chemical combinations... you can find life in so many places that were never thought possible 5 years ago... Saying earth is unique when we know nothing about 95% of our own ocean let alone our own galaxy is ridiculous... we have no idea what "unique" is... Here we go again...

Here we go again...

Insinuating religion (One person's view, but it must be the right one. Right?) into a scientific discussion again.

Tell you what.

Don't crash our discussion.

We won't crash your bible study.

M'Kay?

Nice to hear this...life is much more adaptive and resilient that we previously thought, and I really look forward to the day when we finally discover that this universe is full of life...

Ivan Malagurski

Many discovery's of life in extreme conditions and then assuming that if it is possible here then it will be possible there(mars,titan,[sun some day :)])...

but i think first life develops in a favorable environment like earth(nice sunny days,cool breeze,warm water etc)..

and then it evolves according to changing conditions.Like the above microbe,it may have been a normal microbe in the past but sudden changes in the environment kicked in the natural selection and kaboom an extreme kind came...

A child has to be trained and given time to adapt so that he can be thrown in a war...

Why do these religious nuts come to this site in the first place? I don't go to bible-thumper sites and make comments that would annoy them...

But I digress. This discovery is very cool! We are starting to see that life is much more diverse and adaptable than any of us had immagined. I think we will be surprised at how common it really is once we are able to look in more and more places. The question is: Can life get started in almost any environment, or does it need a safer place to get started and then adapt to the less hospitable zones?

Note:Mine was not religious..

In fact people who put forward creationist theory(a very simple explanation) are themselves undermining him,

Science(GOD) is in itself shows how incomprehensible all of it is.....

I cant wait for the discovery of other life in space, ill stick it in creationists faces. If God ,as complicated as he is, didnt need a creator, then why did we need one?

I've never seen the disconnect so many people see with religion and science. They are not by nature mutually exclusive, only when the argument is simplified down enough do they become incompatible.

evolution?... incompatible

unless of course all the religious nuts just continue to change their beliefs and distort the bible to their liking to accept anything that is discovered by science and is REAL!

Religion is a game.

Oh, and sorry. I didn't intend to take this convo down that path. It just happened, oops.

Crash your party? Science belongs to religion. We came up with it.

Remember Mendle's occupation? Or why they are called "cells." They teach you that stuff back in high school.

What part of primitive religion is not about understanding and explaining the universe based on observation mixed with hypothesis for the yet unobserved? What part of science is not about the EXACT SAME THING, only with an extra few thousand years of trial, error, and observation to make it more accurate?

How many great scientist have been theist? How many athiest?Einstein? Oppenheimer? Newton? Darwin? the other Darwin? etc, etc, etc.

And don't give me the "atheism was oppressed" deal. Compare ratios of Athiest in science with Athiest in society. If science love Atheism, you would see an overrepresentation in science, and yet, across the world's universities, one finds that the percentages mirror society rather closely (when compared against controls in literature or history departments).

all this is because u r greatest argument when ever somebody question the book is "EVIL"....

No body is theist or atheist here, everyone here are explorers,ppl who accept things only when provided with proofs and the chance to counter argue..

Not somebody who accepts the book and if u question it then u r possessed by the DEVIL...

I KNOW I KNOW ITS THE DEVIL WHO IS SPEAKING THRU ME >;#

any way please provide some other link where we can discuss this one sided debate(if at all somebody is interested)...

THIS IS A HOLY PLACE GUYS.LETS NOT TAINT IT....

Were those posts put through a translator?

there aint a translater,which could do such a good translation my friend...

with CAPS n smileys n brackets...

All I was saying was - you "science" folks are taking it on "faith" that life can and has "evolved" from chemicals and various other factors. I don't buy it! It has not been observed, and it has not been replicated in the lab! Show me how to "create" life from non living elements. Then I will become a "believer" in your faith!

and u r ready to believe that the world was created in six days and u want us also to believe that...

come on man what we are asking is analyze,counter argue and pllllllssss follow some logic..

DNA is made of cahemicals,protiens are made of chemicals,
if we can synthesize plastic ,nylon,hormones,drugs,proteins,vitamins etc etc
why can not we synthesize DNA,protein life in the process(some day)...

before 100-200 yrs we believed that life was created in 6 days cuz somebody told as so and we were not educated enough to question them(apart from witch and devil worshiper label)..

now we can, so please do so ,other wise u r just a robot,following instructions...

n pls dont label me as witch or devil worshiper.....

Frog - why would you worry about that! You don't believe in that superstition do you?

if we r going to say use comon sence & logic then we need to think this:
we have no clue about 95% of our oceans and almost nothing above 1% of our galaxy for sure how can we then say god dose or dose not exist maby this is my bilife by the way god dose exist and made science he made all we can only know when the time comes but ask ur self dont u ever get a chill when thinking of the cosmos or god i do cause i know im not in posesion of all the knowleg needed and yet i feel im not here alone i belive every 1 has felt that way at least 1 time .
by the way im only 18 if i get this and how both sides r a box of contradictions the ur all sad exuces for "explorers" ok science pplz if we know almost nothing dont say god dosnt exist or had to be created godly pplz dont say this is all watever be cause it wouldnt be here if god didnt make it and gues wat its here now get along plzz

by the way nice article
eny 1 read a space odisy 2010 about the frozen moon were a lot of stuff lived there and we just didnt know well looky here looks like scy-fi writers are also sphycic

I certainly do not wish to detract from this highly stimulating debate about science v. religion (I'm a total science fan and a presbyterian, you get to make your own choices) but I would like us to focus on the real issue here, namely...

Woo Hoo! Trinidad (my home country by the way) is mentioned on the Popular Science website! Awesome! Hooray! :D

Just some general information: It's one of four recorded asphalt lakes in the world and it was allegedly re-discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh who used the "pitch" to caulk his ships. I invite everyone of you guys to come on down to Trinidad and experience all the wonders of our beautiful island.

This is my plug for my country and it is now concluded :D.

dustmuster wrote:
"All I was saying was - you "science" folks are taking it on "faith" that life can and has "evolved" from chemicals and various other factors. I don't buy it! It has not been observed, and it has not been replicated in the lab! Show me how to "create" life from non living elements. Then I will become a "believer" in your faith!"

A common argument used by theists to support their belief in God, is that life is so complicated that it could have only been made by God. The following research report in the highly respected peer-reviewed journal Science details the de novo creation of a complete functional virus from synthetic chemicals. Some people will probably say that a virus is not a living thing, but that all depends on how you define life. Clearly a simple virus is not as complex as a mammal, but it does have much more properties associated with living things than properties associated with inanimate objects. For example viruses reproduce, evolve, contain genetic information, and have a life cycle. These are characteristics in common with a pet dog, not a pet rock. Even today, the study of chemistry is divided into "organic" and "inorganic" chemistry. This is a throwback to an era when it was believed that only living things could create the carbon bonds that define the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry. This has been discredited in 1828, when Wöhler synthesized urea. The year 2002 marks another milestone in science, with man's first creation of a virus, a living thing, from nonliving material.

www ncbi nlm nih gov / pubmed / 12114528
www sciencemag org / cgi / content / abstract / 1072266

Interesting bit

"life is so complicated that it could have only been made by God."

Glad you brought it up. Aristotle argued thus. And, as we all know, Aristotle was always right. Right?

Well, the art and science of logic has come some way since his time.

Aristotle's argument is called the Teleological Argument, and has been taken for years to be definitive proof of the existence of god.

Hooke and Voltaire bought it

Alas. Poor Aristotle. Poor Hooke. Poor Voltaire.

We now know the "Teleological Argument" as the "Teleological Fallacy".

I also skimmed down and saw Einstein, Oppenheimer, Newton (a complete nutter, by the way), etc, mentioned as theists.

Unfortunately, the fact that any of them believed in god is no proof of the existence of god. It is only a statement of the fact that those people believed in a god.

Alas, Einstein. At the end of his career he was troubled and dejected. Why? Because by then he had found that the well-ordered world that he expected as a consequence of the existence of god did not exist.

logic > opinion
imagination > logic
wisdom > imagination
omnipotence > wisdom
GOD = omnipotence

Man's curiosity has killed him and it will always kill as long as we are curious. Man was only given wisdom from God and NOT omnipotence so that his faith will be tested. No matter how he tries to understand the world, he just can't have all the answers. He can only have faith....

DON'T BLASPHEME THE CREATOR OF MAN!

Repent everyone for your ignorance and nonacceptance of the Divine Creator. A day of Tribulation will come and it will be too late for you to change your mind and believe. It is just so unbearable to imagine that the day finally came and you were just so wrong and be sent to the dreadful place for unbelievers and experience eternal death and suffering. AND IT WILL BE TOO LATE TO CHANGE SIDES AND BELIEVE IN THE REAL FAITH. Don't let yourselves be consumed by the world. We are just passersby. 50, 60, or 80 years at most? Our time here on earth is so brief like a blink of an eye. It simply means we are not destined here on earth but on somewhere else. Having experienced countless paranormal incidents just means to say that there's a world beyond science... and science just can't answer it! Have you seen your love one's ghost/spirit or they let them see you after they have died? WE ARE NOT DESTINED TO LIVE HERE ON EARTH. What you believe and do here will determine where do you go next in the real world!

The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is not mere religious belief but it's human history... It's your choice to live an eternal life or suffer an eternal death after your VERY BRIEF STAY here on earth.

archfear...

When I ask every self espoused Christian the following 3 questions I nearly unanimously get yes answers.

Is God Omniscient?
Is God Omnipotent?
Is God Benevolent?

When I get the 3 expected yes answers, I then ask where does hell fit into an omniscient, omnipotent and BENEVOLENT God's program? I pity those who are willing to worship such a vengeful deity such as the one depicted in the bible. Feel free to suggest that I am going to hell; feel free to impose YOUR DOGMA against my actions. When it's all said and done, it is not YOUR decision as to my final disposition now is it?

Feel free to spout your hate in the guise of religious dogma. According to your bible, we all have free will. So exercise your free will and learn one thing ... TOLERANCE for others right to believe whatever they choose.

So as an above poster commented:

Insinuating religion (One person's view, but it must be the right one. Right?) into a scientific discussion again.

Tell you what.

Don't crash our discussion.

We won't crash your bible study.

M'Kay?

"The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is not mere religious belief but it's human history."

No, actually. It is a story in a book that cannot be verified by history.

And don't bring up Testimonium Flavianum. Josephus was a Jew and would not have believed that Jesus was the Messiah. (Actually he said that Vespasian was a good fit for the Messiah). He was writing about a group of people who followed someone. He never saw or knew of that someone except that he knew that there was a sect that followed him.

Oh. By the way. Islam says you have to believe in Allah. Why are they wrong and you right?

Now, back to the slime growing in the lake...

This is really interesting news, reminds me of the time I found out some living stuff lives in the acidic caves I think in south america. It's been a while.

ThisNameTaken, If you ask Jehovah Witnesses they will not say that god knows all. They say the exact opposite. I don't believe in everything they do, and often have a difficult time believe in a christian god. But they do a good job of following the bible and making the most sense, which is really sad. They believe in death being permanent after judgment, but before that is "sleep". No hell. The bible never says that people after death go to hell, which is why I never understood why other Christan religions said that kind of stuff. Anyways, you should do some research into them, they are interesting, although annoying when they come to your door. LOL

I would think it be fascinating to find life on other planets, but if not, oh well, no biggie. There either is or isn't, and to say for sure there is or isn't, is just plain stupid for religious people to say there is not, because that would mean they are god and all knowing. Who said there can't be other bibles on different planets that god planted or w/e. LOL sorry, I'm done.

When everything has all been said and done... just don't tell me i didn't warn yah... Science is the devil's deception... he feeds on human curiosity and freewill... God gave us and even His angels freewill so he may have real love from his creations and not just have it because He dictated His own creations to do so... who would even want that? would you rather have your girlfriend stay with you because she is oblige to... or because she really loves you... Don't act like you and your science can explain everything... people just tend to feel invincible and all-knowing after being overwhelmed by the so little things he learned of which science has offered... all those knowledge you have learn is incomparable from the wisdom given by God... that is Faith and Fear of the Lord... Just imagine you are a father not being acknowledge by your own son. How would you feel?

Okay... science tells us... it's either you originated from a bacteria or you came from a monkey lineage... what a low form of life... I believe I was created by a Supreme Being... Someone who defies the existing laws of time and space and all the ruling laws of our universe... and for that, I am made human... a special creation with reason and freewill... not from any chemicals whatsoever.......

Trace back your ancestors... your father's father, his father's father, and his father's father's great great grandfather... and then suddenly you realize he was a frigging monkey... Hah! how's that for lol?!

oh my mistake... he wasn't a monkey... he was a resilient bacteria! your great great great grandmother tried to kill her with disinfectant but he was so resilient he was able to copulate with her... and pop! You ancestors came and then you followed next!

Your science refuses to acknowledge the love God put into making us humans... and the devil has deceived humans to seek for a logical answer so you may stray away from the truth. Everything can't be explained... your science can't even explain the word LOVE in it's real essence...

oh.. and then somebody tells me it's hormonal reactions from an outside stimulus... love hormones? wajajaja! lol!!!

*tried to kill him* not her

@dustmuster "wishful thinking from the godless science crowd". I just wanna say thanks for putting the words into your comment that started up yet another religious debate on here rather than me getting to read actual comments.

@FrogOutOfaWell the earth was far from pleasant when the first microbes were created.
Since the conversation has already been struck, here's my two cents.
Just because some religions go by a bible that doesn't coincide with what science tells us, it doesn't mean that God doesn't exist, it just means they have their facts wrong. Maybe God created living creatures so they could evolve, maybe there is no God, we will never know. Because as a scientist I don't rule out anything without proof. We can find a way to recreate the big bang, but you can't prove that God did/didn't nudge those particles in the right direction to cause it. I will never rule him out, but I will never use him to explain everything. God is something you believe or don't. Science is very real and it's just something we have to learn.

30bcf4e2

archfear, you're a Fundamentalist Christian aren't you?

I can tell, know how?

Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian:

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Good top ten, ThisNameTaken.

@kiego: No sophistry can prove non-existence of anything. You can, by experimentation and examination, demonstrate (not prove) that a thing did, at some time, not exist in a very limited context of space and time. That's a pretty basic concept in Logic. But I ask myself this: If the first step in proving something exists is to begin from the position that it does not (which I have to do in order to avoid the traps of several logical fallacies), then when I find no evidence to prove that it does exist I am unmoved from my original position.

@archfear: Once, long ago, when I was closed-minded and unable to think for myself, I was an ordained Baptist Minister. I love, really love, dearly love, to hear all the arguments I used to use to delude myself and others that I was right and everyone who believed anything else was wrong -- and mercilessly shred them. I love to hear the rants of other self-deluded people rending their hair shirts and calling out in the wilderness that all men must repent or be damned to an eternity of pain and torment. You are welcome to believe what you will. That is certainly your choice and I do not begrudge it. However, it is a dogmatic delusion to believe that your mythic reality has any meaning in the realities of other minds.

As for the archea and bacteria in the lake of hydrocarbons? I think they'd have made even Jesus' feet stink.

Forgive them for they didn't know what they are doing and saying... Have mercy on them...

@QIII -"Once, long ago, when I was closed-minded and unable to think for myself, I was an ordained Baptist Minister." May your pathetic soul be saved. To think you were once a minister, you have turn against your faith and even dare blaspheme before our Lord. In the very end, it will always be still up to you..........

@ThisName Taken -You are so wrong about your accusations against me... I have no grudge over other godless people's belief... I'm a Catholic Christian by faith... and I respect your opinion. You may be brilliant in your words but I hope one day your life will be touched... and hope it will not be too late... Blessed are those you haven't seen but have faith in Him. Blest you...

Not my lord...

archfear, sicne you seem to have all the answers, i ask you this:

if we truely were made in his image, why arn't we invisible? :)

@ThisNameTaken
If we were all invisible, we all be bumping into each other and not knowing there were other people around us. That would be the pinnacle of stupidity, and a wise God wouldn't do that.
And plus, if invisible people could see other invisible people, then we wouldn't be invisible.
@archfear, instead of laughing at their theories and moving on to other beliefs, why don't you try refuting their arguments? Right now, you're just proving to them that you don't know much about Christianity. And don't be so aggressive, you're just contradicting Christianity and what it stands for, love.
I agree with what you said about QII and abandoning the religion, except the pathetic soul bit