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Murchison Meteorite Still Contentious

Posted by michael on from the tainted-love dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The well-known 1969 meteorite that fell 60 miles north of Melbourne, Australia, remains remarkably contentious today. The 100 kilogram carbon rock : a) contains pre-biotic proteins and 12% water; b) harbors 50 amino acids not found on Earth; c) favors the tell-tale signature of biochemistry based on a dominant left-handed chirality, compared to random or racemic mixtures found in test-tube syntheses. While terrestrial contamination (even interior to the meteor) may discount this so-called 'Murchison meteor', its light isotopes of carbon and nitrogen suggest the left-handed amino acids not found elsewhere on Earth have the same ratios as the right-handed ones. This would not be the case if, say, bacteria was just making the left-handed ones after impact. Seems quite a controversy from down-under."

6 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. God and meteors by svallarian · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So does this prove that God was left handed?

    Steven V>

    --
    I patented screwing your mom. But it got revoked for "prior art."
  2. Blah, Blah Blah.... by Bob+Hopeless · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Mmmm. Big words. Me no understand.

    1. Re:Blah, Blah Blah.... by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      "Mmmm. Big words. Me no understand."

      I fail to see how this is off-topic. A very large portion of this article requires more than a novice understanding of the subject at hand.

      Whoever posted this article clearly did not consider the possibility that there are lots of people viewing it who have no clue what 'left handed' or 'right handed' means when talking about amino acids etc. It was inappropraite to mod somebody as off-topic for saying "I don't understand what this article means".

      Frankly, I, like the parent poster, would like a simple english explanation of what they meant.

  3. Re:YOU FAIL IT. by TunaPhish · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    nice, and I was third...

  4. Moulder was right by l33t-gu3lph1t3 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    We really are all aliens!

    --
    ------- "From bored to fanboy in 3.8 asian girls" ----------
  5. Re:reason why not by Splab · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    well the first thing you can forget about - they never went there, hell will be frozen solid before I believe that that string attach thingy was more than 2 m. from earth... (how that mirror that reflects laserbeams to measure the distance to the moon got there?) That doesnt exist either!!! Heck this thread is a figure of you imagination - now quit being a nerd and think of some really hot blond chick!!!
    2. Send cowboy neil instead, last I heard he had some funky moves to deal with that.