[meteorite-list] CI1 meteorites and cyanobacteria

From: Marc Fries <fries_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2011 15:19:46 -0800
Message-ID: <8D86E053-FD4F-46BA-AC11-E85A82E9668F_at_psi.edu>

Howdy all

        Here's my two cents, pure and simple - this paper is 110% bullshit. The filaments the paper addresses are nothing new. They are apparently amorphous sulfates formed from aqueous alteration of fine sulfides in the CI's. You can see that in the EDS spectra published in the paper - the predominant elements are sulfur, oxygen and magnesium. I.e., they are sulfates (e.g. Mg2SO4 + hydration water). Some silicon "leaks" into the measurement from materials behind one of the filaments.
        I happen to have two CIs on loan to me right now - Orgueil and Tonk. I have Raman spectra of the filaments found in both meteorites. They are sulfates. My personal Surprise Meter registers a whopping Zero.
        The argument is made that the lack of nitrogen in these "fossils" implies that they pre-date their residence on Earth. This argument starts with the assumption that the filaments are fossils, and then uses the non-detection of nitrogen to "prove" that they are fossils. This is a circular argument. Here's a more supportable hypothesis: no nitrogen was detected because they are not fossils, but rather exactly what has been known for decades - they are amorphous sulfate filaments caused by hydration of fine sulfides in the rock.
        
        This paper is a result of something I like to call the Lowell Effect. Basically, it is what happens when someone stares into an instrument expecting (or hoping) to see proof of life in the target. Percival Lowell did it through a telescope with Mars, drawing elaborate "canals" in his mind which indicated (to him) an advanced martian civilization. Certain other scientists do it with the Apex chert while peering through microscopes, and with hydrothermal graphite found in rocks from Isua, Greenland through all manner of instruments. The author of this paper pulled a Lowell Effect result out of his posterior after looking at CIs with an electron microscope. Where I come from, we also call that "letting your hopes make a fool of your reason".

Cheers,
Marc Fries
        

On Mar 5, 2011, at 6:56 AM, drtanuki wrote:

> Dear List,
> There is a very interesting newly published paper about cyanobacteria found inside CI1 meteorites:
>
> Journal of Cosmology, 2011, Vol 13, xxx.
> JournalofCosmology.com, March, 2011
> Fossils of Cyanobacteria in CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites:
> Implications to Life on Comets, Europa, and Enceladus
> Richard B. Hoover, Ph.D.
> NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
>
> The abstract can be read here:
>
> http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/2011/03/fossils-of-cyanobacteria-in-ci1.html
>
> Best Always, Dirk Ross...Tokyo
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Received on Sat 05 Mar 2011 06:19:46 PM PST