This evening I took a break from wrapping Christmas Presents and learning 2D NMR theory to just check the basic Yahoo news. And to my surprise, NASA's new life form which I previously wrote about is in the news again. This time, scientists are finding major holes into their research findings. A really good, scientific review of the paper published by NASA researchers was posted on a blog by Dr. Rosemary J. Redfield. It is an excellent analysis of NASA's work and it claims that NASA was sloppy. There are many outlined flaws (such as execution of assays, to the starving of the organisms from phosphorous but leaving traces of phosphate salt within the experiment).
The most interesting comment by Dr. Redfield was, "If this data was presented by a PhD student at their committee meeting, I'd send them back to the bench to do more cleanup and controls." To say this about our most famous research and scientific organization in the country and probably the world, is shocking but true. I have asked for advice from professors and graduate students alike, and they all have one thing to say in common..."Make sure your controls are sound!" I am a little disappointed that NASA's astrobiologists failed at such a simple research philosophy.
Check out the NASA report here.
Showing posts with label NASA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASA. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Quick Random Thoughts
My mind is scattered today so I have a few short tidbits for you all today...
1) NASA found "new" life. It is actually a really, really, REALLY big deal. NASA announced it today at a press conference that had people buzzing about alien life. Basically these new microbes use arsenic instead of phosphorous. This includes their DNA and ATP (or it should now be renamed ATA I guess). They are found in the Mono Lake, California and it is quite the discovery. Get a quick run-down here.
2) I finalized my class schedule for next semester and I will be taking three classes along with beginning lab research. The classes include Physical Chemistry, Particle Design and Process, and Computational Chemistry. Currently I am taking Statistical Models, Organic Spectroscopy, and Linear Algebra/Differential Equations. I believe whatever my research is specifically it will have a much larger emphasis on mathematical modeling of solid systems, as that is something the Taylor Lab group wants to pursue.
3) I played Wallyball last night and as I was watching some NBA highlights earlier today I wondered what it would be like if instead of professional basketball, we watched, cheered for, and celebrated Wallyball teams. That stuff is exciting and I think people would watch it. Kind of like Slam Ball, where the heck did that sport go?
I hope this is enough to occupy your time for at least five minutes today. I know it did for me!
1) NASA found "new" life. It is actually a really, really, REALLY big deal. NASA announced it today at a press conference that had people buzzing about alien life. Basically these new microbes use arsenic instead of phosphorous. This includes their DNA and ATP (or it should now be renamed ATA I guess). They are found in the Mono Lake, California and it is quite the discovery. Get a quick run-down here.
2) I finalized my class schedule for next semester and I will be taking three classes along with beginning lab research. The classes include Physical Chemistry, Particle Design and Process, and Computational Chemistry. Currently I am taking Statistical Models, Organic Spectroscopy, and Linear Algebra/Differential Equations. I believe whatever my research is specifically it will have a much larger emphasis on mathematical modeling of solid systems, as that is something the Taylor Lab group wants to pursue.
3) I played Wallyball last night and as I was watching some NBA highlights earlier today I wondered what it would be like if instead of professional basketball, we watched, cheered for, and celebrated Wallyball teams. That stuff is exciting and I think people would watch it. Kind of like Slam Ball, where the heck did that sport go?
I hope this is enough to occupy your time for at least five minutes today. I know it did for me!
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