The Arsenic Chronicles

A humble arsenic-friendly microbe from Mono Lake, Calif., has recently stirred a tempest in the science world's teapot. Here's the story as it played out over the last two weeks in tweets, blogs and news conferences, of course.

  1. Nov. 29, 2010. NASA announces a news conference "to discuss an
    astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of
    extraterrestrial life."
  2. This gets some attention.
  3. I'm sad to quell some of the @kottke-induced excitement about possible extraterrestrial life. I've seen the Science paper. It's not that.
  4. [News] NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery: NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST ... go.nasa.gov/gihgV4
  5. Close Encounters of the Media Kind—NASA press release leads to wild speculation about alien discovery: bit.ly/et8NMy
  6. Tune into our press briefing on a new astrobiology discovery: Thursday, 2pm EST. Live on NASA TV & online. nasa.gov/ntv
  7. Meanwhile, reporters are calling researchers and space fans are looking forward to the event. Some grumble over Science magazine and NASA keeping the study embargoed from public release.
  8. Greetings, Earthlings. Sorry to make you wait to talk NASA, but… bit.ly/gRLCLO
  9. And the newspapers keep on calling me about NASA's press release...
  10. NASA’s Hyped-Up Alien Life Press Conference Likely Just About Arsenic Biology bit.ly/gW6c8T
  11. Dec. 2, 2010.  After several days of complaints, Science magazine releases reporters bound by its embargoes -- where they receive early copies of studies to review with outside researchers in preparation for new stories, in return for promising not to publish the results ahead of a set time -- a little over an hour ahead of NASA's press conference.
  12. Now with shortening! The secret's out: Scientists cultivate life as we don't know it - arsenic-munching microbes: on.msnbc.com/fZaUjZ
  13. The electronic version of the paper is released by Science and early news reports emerge ahead of NASA's 2 p.m. ET news conference.
  14. Science gets it (mostly) wrong again: My take on the NASA astrobiology paper bit.ly/hYIZnB
  15. It's a bacteria. There's nothing shadow biosphere nor alien about it. It is a really interesting extremophile, so let's celebrate that.
  16. The news conference begins with presentations from the researcher Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA officials, and a skeptical outside researcher, Steve Benner.
  17. New NASA finding changes the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth. go.nasa.gov/eB8Ep8 [LINK FIXED]
  18. Astrobiology discovery: An example of "life as we do NOT know it." Will change how we search for life elsewhere in the universe.

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USA TODAY science

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