Ok, maybe not.
A bacterium found in the arsenic-filled waters of a Californian lake is poised to overturn scientists’ understanding of the biochemistry of living organisms. The microbe seems to be able to replace phosphorus with arsenic in some of its basic cellular processes — suggesting the possibility of a biochemistry very different from the one we know, which could be used by organisms in past or present extreme environments on Earth, or even on other planets.
The article also says, “Oddball bacterium can survive without one of biology’s essential building blocks.”
Apparently, your essential building blocks thing is flawed.
I guess they don’t know everything.
Makes you wonder about global warming as well…
…doesn’t it?
Additional Rant Added 12.04 – The moral of the story is that scientists, more than anyone else, should not be dealing in “absolutes.” Time and time again they are either proven wrong or we find that what they believed to be an “absolute” truth is nothing more than a misguided idea predicated on erroneous data which leads to false conclusions. They then present these false conclusions as fact. Too much coffee is bad for you, red meat is bad for you, and “absolutes” of this nature are often repealed after later research shows a different result. Science is always evolving and we don’t have all of the answers. I believe that anyone who leans on the “absolutes” of science will soon find themselves flat on their ass.
