ASTROBIOLOGY TODAY            2005
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See also Editorial.

 (1) Sidis: " We thus find the universe to be...a sort of three-dimensional checkerboard, the positive spaces counting as white (giving out light), and the negative spaces as black (absorbing light). Thus what we see is simply the white space that we are in. The surrounding black spaces are invisible, and in addition, absorb the light from the white spaces beyond, so that even those cannot be seen, and, if we judge from the distribution of light in the sky, we get an idea merely of the size and shape of our special white space Chap. 12."

"The new galaxy, which consists of a gigantic cloud of hydrogen gas and exotic dark matter, contains enough material to give birth to tens of millions of stars. Yet something is preventing this from happening." newscientist.com, February 23, 2005

"A British-led team of astronomers have discovered an object that appears to be an invisible galaxy made almost entirely of dark matter – the first ever detected. A dark galaxy is an area in the universe containing a large amount of mass that rotates like a galaxy, but contains no stars. Without any stars to give light, it could only be found using radio telescopes. It was first seen with the University of Manchester’s Lovell Telescope in Cheshire, and the sighting was confirmed with the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico. The unknown material that is thought to hold these galaxies together is known as ‘dark matter’, but scientists still know very little about what that is."  PhysOrg, Feb. 23

BIG BANG THEORY CHALLENGED—"An Australian-led team of astronomers has challenged conventional Big Bang theory by finding that large numbers of stars may be living unseen in the space between the galaxies CISRO, 1999."

BLACK HOLES GALORE—"The finding suggests that active black holes are much more common in clusters of galaxies than previously believed CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY." "One-third of the sources are galaxies whose cores shine bright in X-rays, yet do not shine in visible light NASA, Jan., 2000."

"First-ever measurements of the size and shape of massive dark matter halos that surround galaxies. Our findings give us the clearest picture yet of a very mysterious part of our universe. Using relatively simple physics, we can get our first direct glimpse of the size and shape of these halos which are more than fifty times more massive than the light-producing part of galaxies that we can see univtoronto, July 25." 

"Dark matter shifts around much as does the visible matter of stars, planets and dust. And in so doing, it may surround galaxies in lumps Nature, April, 2003."

"The rare dwarf spheroidal galaxies display few stars but contain massive amounts of 'dark matter' or matter that does not emit radiation that can be observed by astronomers Univ. of Cambridge, July, 2003."

Sidis: "Midway between these dark spaces the strip becomes narrow, due to the fact that there the surface bounding the section of the universe recedes to a great distance Chap. 12."

ASTRONOMERS MAP DARK MATTER—"It shows that not only do the galaxies we see lie within larger Dark Matter clumps, but that these clumps are connected by "cosmic filaments" -- bridges of Dark Matter connecting the clusters Royal Astronomical Soc., April, 2002."

(2) Sidis wrote in 1925: "Thus we come to the conclusion that life is as eternal as the inanimate, and is to be found as universally, under as varying conditions, as inanimate phenomena. On the other hand, we can also accept the Pflüger idea that life as it exists on this earth originated from the formation of cyanogen and its compounds Chap. 11."  "Astronomers from Ohio State University and Lowell Observatory have confirmed the existence of cyanogen gas in Comet Hale-Bopp NASA."

DEEP SPACE...

HISTORIC DISCOVERY OF BLACK HOLE-SUPERNOVA LINK—"This discovery is exciting because it shows the link of a black hole to a supernova Hubble Telescope News."  Binary Black Holes   more discoveries   PREDICTED BY W. J. SIDIS—The so-called 'black hole' is a stage in the life of every star: "...the pre-nebula condition of any stellar system is a stage in which that system follows the negative tendency, followed by a sudden change to the positive tendency accompanied by a great outburst of radiant energy Chap. 13."  Sidis FAQ 

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE—Data from NASA's Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) indicate that water vapor is up to ten thousand times more abundandant in interstellar gas clouds where stars and planets are likely to form than it is in the open regions of space NASA, August, 2000."

COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULE FOUND NEAR CENTER OF OUR GALAXY—"...vinyl alcohol, C2H4O—an important intermediate compound in many organic reactions on Earth SpaceRef.com, October, 2001."

NASA lab experiment suggests life can exist in deep space. Researchers created chemical compounds in laboratory simulation of interstellar conditions. "Some of the components have properties relevant to the origin of life, including the ability to self- assemble into vesicular structures NASA, Jan., 2001."

SATELLITE FINDS ORGANIC MOLECULES IN INTERSTELLAR DUST—"They rather resemble tar-like substances than minerals...10% nitrogen and/or oxygen in addition to hydrogen and carbon SpaceDaily, April, 2000."

MORE EXOPLANETS FOUND—"Total number of known exoplanets now 102 exoplanets.org."

SOLAR SYSTEM...

MICROBES IN METEORS REANIMATED—Italian scientists have reanimated extraterrestrial microorganisms contained within 4.5-billion-year-old meteorites. They argue that the 'crym' (for crystal microbes) suggest that 'life can exist everywhere in the solar system, though in a quiescent state source."

Life on Mars discovered by Viking spacecraft 25 years ago? "Viking clearly found life. That is the steadfast belief of Gilbert Levin, former Viking scientist and now chief executive officer for Spherix in Beltsville, Maryland. It was his Labeled Release experiment that, he claims, detected microbial organisms in the Martian soil source."

Leonids join growing list of bio-meteors source.

A team of researchers say that "magnetite crystals embedded in the famous Martian meteorite are of a type produced only by a biological process source."

Shergotty meteorite from Mars provides "geochemical evidence that water was present deep beneath the Martian surface, and was lost—perhaps providing the water necessary for an ocean—as the pyroxenes were carried to the surface during magma ascent source."

Mars likely had lakes says NASA of  recent photos source. This is contradicted, however, by a US Geological Survey of Mars which says, "The large expanses of olivine, about one-million square miles, means chemical weathering on Mars is very low and has been low for most of its geologic history source." (Click photo to enlarge.)

Not one, not two, but three moons of Jupiter may have subsurface water. (1) NASA says magnetic evidence suggests salt-water below the ice surface of Europa. "A magnetic compass on Jupiter moon Europa flips around in a way that's best explained by the presence of a layer of electrically conducting liquid such as saltwater. Ice is a poor conductor of electricity source." (2) Another, Callisto, "might have a salty ocean lying beneath its icy crust source1  source2." (3) And now yet another, Ganymede, appears to have "a deep layer of warm soft ice capped by a thin cold rigid ice crust source."

Some astrobiologists are asking if Europa has life in the form of halophiles, like those found in some extreme environments on Earth source. 

Find strain of bacteria "unlike anything on Earth" in filter of balloon at altitude of 10 miles. "Passing comet may have dropped it into Earth's atmosphere source."

Newly landed Canadian 'Tagish Lake' meteorite may be one of "primitive, carbon-rich meteorites that contain organic compounds such as amino acids source." 

Find rock crystal in containing ancient microbes in suspended animation for 250 million years. "They are ten times older than any previously discovered, yet when extracted and placed in a nutrient solution they revived and began to grow again source."

Study suggests life began much earlier when Earth was much hotter source.

LINKS

astrobiology.com

Astrobiology at NASA

Int. Journal of Astrobiology

Encylopedia of Astrobiology