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Scientist Hints at Silicon-Based Life Underground Dr. Tom Gold, emeritus professor of astronomy at Cornell University, says there's a good chance silicon-based life lives in solid rock deep under the earth. Start Date: 12/05/98 A leading U.S. scientist will soon publish a book in which he suggests that silicon-based life may exist on planet Earth, deep underground. All currently acknowledged forms of life are carbon-based, and it is widely assumed that life on other planets, if it exists, will also depend upon carbon chemistry. However, silicon is very similar to carbon in ways that could theoretically lead to entirely separate and extremely alien forms of life. Silicon is one of the most common elements on Earth and throughout the galaxy. The idea of silicon-based life has been explored in science fiction, but not taken very seriously among scientists until now. According to a November 22, 1998 story in the Sunday Times (UK), Dr. Tom Gold, emeritus professor of astronomy at Cornell University, believes efforts should be made to discover if silicon-based forms of life exist on Earth. Gold previously predicted that large quantities of conventional (carbon-based) bacteria would be found living in solid rock deep underground. At first, that suggestion was not taken seriously by most of his colleagues, but in recent years Gold's prediction has turned out to be true. Now, regarding his even more exotic new idea, Gold says, "So long as nobody suspects there could be silicon-based life, we may just not be clever enough to identify it." In a book titled "The Deep Hot Biosphere" to be published in January, Gold argues that silicon-based life forms deep underground could be adapted to an environment far hotter and more pressurized than carbon-based life forms can stand. Such an alternate biosphere, if it exists, could provide a satisfactory explanation for the formation of deeply buried oil, gas and mineral deposits, Gold says. David Noever, a scientist at NASA's new Astrobiology Institute, told the Times that he and some of his colleagues already take the idea of silicon-based extraterrestrial life seriously. "It's almost naive to assume all life must be carbon-based. I could possibly make good cases for life based on both silicon and phosphorus," Noever said. Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security. Built by Frontier on a Macintosh on 6/17/00; 11:52:55 AM. Web Comments - Produced by Larry Lowe Served 4028 times since 12/05/98.

Tiny Mineral Test-Tubes: The Cradle of Life? Reseach conducted at the Universities of Edinburgh and Chicago reveals that the first life on Earth may have formed in tiny pores on the surface of underwater rocks. La Nina, Like El Nino, Brings Bizarre Weather La Nina, a cooling trend in the mid-Pacific, caused weather to be very strange in much of the world during the winter of 1998-99. Healthy Competition in the Oil Industry? Consider This... Interlocking ownership among major oil companies means you often can't be sure whose gas you're really buying. Merger Fever Hits Oil Industry as Uncertainties Loom The world's biggest oil companies are looking to gobble up second-tier producers, anticipating a harsher competitive climate ahead. Plans for Earth Day 2000 Are Already Underway Ambitious plans for Earth Day 2000 will build a coalition of leaders in business, government, media and education and focus on appropriate energy technologies for the new millennium. Energy: Can World Meet Demand of Next 50 Years? The demand for energy will increase by at least 50% over current levels during the next 50 years, raising grave concerns over how so much energy can be produced without enormous environmental damage. Chernobyl Horror Lingers 13 Years Later Devastating effects of the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl continue to haunt the Ukraine and will do so for decades to come. Report Says People To Blame For Global Warming Rising sea water temperature due to global warming threatens to destroy the majority of coral reefs on earth, with potentially huge ecological and economic consequences. Information Economy Boom Obscuring Earth's Decline The Worldwatch Institute warned in its annual 'State of the World' report for the year 2000 that good economic news was deflecting public attention from grave environmental problems.