From The Sunday TimesAugust 12, 2007

Dust 'comes alive' in space

Robert Booth
SCIENTISTS have discovered that inorganic material can take on the
characteristics of living organisms in space, a development that could
transform views of alien life.

An international panel from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Max
Planck institute in Germany and the University of Sydney found that
galactic dust could form spontaneously into helixes and double helixes and
that the inorganic creations had memory and the power to reproduce
themselves.

A similar rethinking of prospective alien life is being undertaken by the
National Research Council, an advisory body to the US government. It says
Nasa should start a search for what it describes as "weird life" -
organisms that lack DNA or other molecules found in life on Earth.

The new research, to be published this week in the New Journal of Physics,
found nonorganic dust, when held in the form of plasma in zero gravity,
formed the helical structures found in DNA. The particles are held
together by electromagnetic forces that the scientists say could contain a
code comparable to the genetic information held in organic matter. It
appeared that this code could be transferred to the next generation.

Professor Greg Morfill, of the Max Planck institute of extra-terrestrial
physics, said: "Going by our current narrow definitions of what life is,
it qualifies.

"The question now is to see if it can evolve to become intelligent. It's a
little bit like science fiction at the moment. The potential level of
complexity we are looking at is of an amoeba or a plant.

"I do not believe that the systems we are talking about are life as we
know it. We need to define the criteria for what we think of as life much
more clearly."

It may be that science is starting to study territory already explored by
science fiction. The television series The X-Files, for example, has
featured life in the form of a silicon-based parasitic spore.

The Max Planck experiments were conducted in zero gravity conditions in
Germany and on the International Space Station 200 miles above earth.

The findings have provoked speculation that the helix could be a common
structure that underpins all life, organic and nonorganic.

From The Sunday TimesAugust 12, 2007

Dust 'comes alive' in space

Robert Booth
SCIENTISTS have discovered that inorganic material can take on the
characteristics of living organisms in space, a development that could
transform views of alien life.

An international panel from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Max
Planck institute in Germany and the University of Sydney found that
galactic dust could form spontaneously into helixes and double helixes and
that the inorganic creations had memory and the power to reproduce
themselves.

A similar rethinking of prospective alien life is being undertaken by the
National Research Council, an advisory body to the US government. It says
Nasa should start a search for what it describes as "weird life" -
organisms that lack DNA or other molecules found in life on Earth.

The new research, to be published this week in the New Journal of Physics,
found nonorganic dust, when held in the form of plasma in zero gravity,
formed the helical structures found in DNA. The particles are held
together by electromagnetic forces that the scientists say could contain a
code comparable to the genetic information held in organic matter. It
appeared that this code could be transferred to the next generation.

Professor Greg Morfill, of the Max Planck institute of extra-terrestrial
physics, said: "Going by our current narrow definitions of what life is,
it qualifies.

"The question now is to see if it can evolve to become intelligent. It's a
little bit like science fiction at the moment. The potential level of
complexity we are looking at is of an amoeba or a plant.

"I do not believe that the systems we are talking about are life as we
know it. We need to define the criteria for what we think of as life much
more clearly."

It may be that science is starting to study territory already explored by
science fiction. The television series The X-Files, for example, has
featured life in the form of a silicon-based parasitic spore.

The Max Planck experiments were conducted in zero gravity conditions in
Germany and on the International Space Station 200 miles above earth.

The findings have provoked speculation that the helix could be a common
structure that underpins all life, organic and nonorganic.

From The Sunday TimesAugust 12, 2007

Dust 'comes alive' in space

Robert Booth
SCIENTISTS have discovered that inorganic material can take on the
characteristics of living organisms in space, a development that could
transform views of alien life.

An international panel from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Max
Planck institute in Germany and the University of Sydney found that
galactic dust could form spontaneously into helixes and double helixes and
that the inorganic creations had memory and the power to reproduce
themselves.

A similar rethinking of prospective alien life is being undertaken by the
National Research Council, an advisory body to the US government. It says
Nasa should start a search for what it describes as "weird life" -
organisms that lack DNA or other molecules found in life on Earth.

The new research, to be published this week in the New Journal of Physics,
found nonorganic dust, when held in the form of plasma in zero gravity,
formed the helical structures found in DNA. The particles are held
together by electromagnetic forces that the scientists say could contain a
code comparable to the genetic information held in organic matter. It
appeared that this code could be transferred to the next generation.

Professor Greg Morfill, of the Max Planck institute of extra-terrestrial
physics, said: "Going by our current narrow definitions of what life is,
it qualifies.

"The question now is to see if it can evolve to become intelligent. It's a
little bit like science fiction at the moment. The potential level of
complexity we are looking at is of an amoeba or a plant.

"I do not believe that the systems we are talking about are life as we
know it. We need to define the criteria for what we think of as life much
more clearly."

It may be that science is starting to study territory already explored by
science fiction. The television series The X-Files, for example, has
featured life in the form of a silicon-based parasitic spore.

The Max Planck experiments were conducted in zero gravity conditions in
Germany and on the International Space Station 200 miles above earth.

The findings have provoked speculation that the helix could be a common
structure that underpins all life, organic and nonorganic.

From The Sunday TimesAugust 12, 2007

Dust 'comes alive' in space

Robert Booth
SCIENTISTS have discovered that inorganic material can take on the
characteristics of living organisms in space, a development that could
transform views of alien life.

An international panel from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Max
Planck institute in Germany and the University of Sydney found that
galactic dust could form spontaneously into helixes and double helixes and
that the inorganic creations had memory and the power to reproduce
themselves.

A similar rethinking of prospective alien life is being undertaken by the
National Research Council, an advisory body to the US government. It says
Nasa should start a search for what it describes as "weird life" -
organisms that lack DNA or other molecules found in life on Earth.

The new research, to be published this week in the New Journal of Physics,
found nonorganic dust, when held in the form of plasma in zero gravity,
formed the helical structures found in DNA. The particles are held
together by electromagnetic forces that the scientists say could contain a
code comparable to the genetic information held in organic matter. It
appeared that this code could be transferred to the next generation.

Professor Greg Morfill, of the Max Planck institute of extra-terrestrial
physics, said: "Going by our current narrow definitions of what life is,
it qualifies.

"The question now is to see if it can evolve to become intelligent. It's a
little bit like science fiction at the moment. The potential level of
complexity we are looking at is of an amoeba or a plant.

"I do not believe that the systems we are talking about are life as we
know it. We need to define the criteria for what we think of as life much
more clearly."

It may be that science is starting to study territory already explored by
science fiction. The television series The X-Files, for example, has
featured life in the form of a silicon-based parasitic spore.

The Max Planck experiments were conducted in zero gravity conditions in
Germany and on the International Space Station 200 miles above earth.

The findings have provoked speculation that the helix could be a common
structure that underpins all life, organic and nonorganic.

Science says: God made man from Dust

From The Sunday TimesAugust 12, 2007

Dust 'comes alive' in space