Two Science Bits from Books Inq.
The supercell photographs are magnificent
New Life Forms
A later update to the one above
I haven't read the original from which the second post above derived. What is posited is that there is a form of bacteria that facultatively introduces arsenic in the DNA helix in the absence of phosphorus. There is some question as to whether this is environmentally mediated or a true "different" form. Whatever it may be, the ability to substitute such a key constituent as phosphorus with some other element is a dramatic new occurrence in the history of life, and as some suggest, begins to limn ways in which extraterrestrial life might be different from life on Earth. Even if not, this is sooooooooo cool.
New Life Forms
A later update to the one above
I haven't read the original from which the second post above derived. What is posited is that there is a form of bacteria that facultatively introduces arsenic in the DNA helix in the absence of phosphorus. There is some question as to whether this is environmentally mediated or a true "different" form. Whatever it may be, the ability to substitute such a key constituent as phosphorus with some other element is a dramatic new occurrence in the history of life, and as some suggest, begins to limn ways in which extraterrestrial life might be different from life on Earth. Even if not, this is sooooooooo cool.
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