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It's much more than an educated guess. Dreaded Anomaly Send a noteboard - 02/12/2010 11:59:18 PM
all sorts of things that we don't know anything about and just because it doesn't fit in our realm of experience doesn't mean it can't happen. To say that our limited experience is the only knowledge that counts is too arrogant to be believed.

And who is to say what the sun's fuel is hydrogen and helium? We have no way of knowing that it isn't some gas we have never heard of or imagined. Better to say our best educated guess is that it is hydrogen and helium.


The reason a new result in science is exciting is because it proves the existence of a postulated possibility. Hypotheses are one thing, empirical evidence is quite another. It's not a matter of arrogance not to assume something exists until proof is found; in fact, to act otherwise is irrational.

We know the sun's fuel is hydrogen and helium because we can analyze the spectrum of light it emits. Each element emits a very specific set of discrete spectral lines, and from the sun's spectrum (or that of any other star, for that matter), we can determine its composition. Interesting fact: helium was discovered in the sun's spectrum before it was ever observed on Earth.

So, it's extremely improbable that the sun's fuel would be made up of unknown elements. The basic elements follow an extremely well-known progression, and at this point we have the complete periodic table of "natural" elements, along with a few dozen "synthetic" elements that have been generated in laboratories. Hydrogen and helium are the lightest elements (their nuclei contain only one proton, and two protons + two neutrons, respectively), so they're the most abundant in the universe.
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More Important Than Soccer: Completely new type of DNA discovered - 02/12/2010 04:48:51 PM 1560 Views
that is TOTALLY inappropriate - 02/12/2010 04:58:47 PM 778 Views
Of course there is... - 02/12/2010 05:02:30 PM 763 Views
I saw, I'm just not in the proper habit yet - 02/12/2010 05:35:33 PM 885 Views
Crazy awesome. - 02/12/2010 05:07:49 PM 862 Views
Re: Crazy awesome. - 02/12/2010 10:32:56 PM 675 Views
It's confusing, that's for sure. - 03/12/2010 02:01:11 AM 681 Views
lol, or maybe not - 09/12/2010 07:49:19 PM 1060 Views
So the movie Evolution was real! - 02/12/2010 05:24:16 PM 768 Views
Nice reference, but not quite. - 02/12/2010 10:32:04 PM 721 Views
Thanks for clearing that up - 02/12/2010 11:23:36 PM 837 Views
Wow. *NM* - 02/12/2010 05:32:08 PM 445 Views
I love how it was found in a massively polluted lake - 02/12/2010 05:35:22 PM 717 Views
The answer to your question is: Pretty damn cool. *NM* - 02/12/2010 05:33:54 PM 424 Views
Goddamnit I am SO PISSED that I have a meeting at 2!!! - 02/12/2010 05:50:21 PM 693 Views
I won't pretend I know enough about biology to understand the impact of this - 02/12/2010 06:26:24 PM 843 Views
It's like finding a type of rock that eats laughter - 02/12/2010 06:51:15 PM 683 Views
I think I had an ex once that was made of arsenic. *NM* - 02/12/2010 07:10:57 PM 408 Views
Maris? *NM* - 02/12/2010 07:33:14 PM 443 Views
Well you are made of poison, so that makes sense. *NM* - 02/12/2010 07:39:09 PM 401 Views
Curse you, poetic justice! Curse you! - 04/12/2010 03:38:37 AM 861 Views
So, is it an alien? - 02/12/2010 07:19:49 PM 835 Views
I don't see why it couldn't be natural - 02/12/2010 07:22:49 PM 739 Views
They haven't mentioned anything saying it's not from Earth, I think - 02/12/2010 08:03:44 PM 834 Views
It was funded by NASA, I think - 02/12/2010 08:15:15 PM 869 Views
lols. *NM* - 02/12/2010 08:17:40 PM 410 Views
The bacteria in question is part of a known lineage - 02/12/2010 08:07:34 PM 1052 Views
see my note below - 02/12/2010 08:13:35 PM 832 Views
Maybe - 02/12/2010 08:23:16 PM 765 Views
it could be there are some in the lake naturally - 02/12/2010 09:00:42 PM 702 Views
Huh! I must have missed that part. *NM* - 02/12/2010 09:05:15 PM 397 Views
No it isn't! - 02/12/2010 07:39:34 PM 824 Views
I really didn't understand that, either. - 04/12/2010 10:44:51 AM 855 Views
So, apparently, this bacteria doesn't use arsneic for its DNA in its natural state? - 02/12/2010 08:06:02 PM 722 Views
While awesome, it's a bit of a problem. - 02/12/2010 09:04:22 PM 738 Views
Re: While awesome, it's a bit of a problem. - 02/12/2010 10:34:34 PM 673 Views
It's interesting, but not completely shocking - 02/12/2010 08:08:46 PM 907 Views
I don't understand why this is such a big deal. It always seemed common sense to me that there are - 02/12/2010 10:40:22 PM 865 Views
It's much more than an educated guess. - 02/12/2010 11:59:18 PM 919 Views
You can't "know" from this distance. - 03/12/2010 03:13:05 AM 675 Views
Why not? - 03/12/2010 04:42:15 AM 895 Views
obviously you have not learned to look at the back label on the car *NM* - 04/12/2010 07:04:42 PM 390 Views
Yes, we can. - 04/12/2010 06:04:48 PM 1061 Views
The problem probably is with me. - 04/12/2010 08:00:56 PM 728 Views
No, they aren't. - 04/12/2010 10:01:25 PM 744 Views
Depends on how you view evidence, no? - 05/12/2010 04:50:11 AM 979 Views
There are correct and incorrect ways to view evidence. - 05/12/2010 05:42:41 AM 676 Views
Are you baiting me to bait you? - 05/12/2010 06:41:49 AM 908 Views
I'm just carrying on a conversation. - 05/12/2010 07:26:39 AM 902 Views
Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation. - 05/12/2010 07:08:04 PM 682 Views
Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation. - 05/12/2010 07:56:43 PM 884 Views
Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation. - 06/12/2010 03:15:37 AM 828 Views
Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation. - 06/12/2010 09:18:51 PM 778 Views
Okay. - 06/12/2010 11:22:44 PM 917 Views
I watched that and was very intrigued - 03/12/2010 01:31:29 AM 602 Views
It's neat, but I object to the circus act - 03/12/2010 02:52:46 AM 848 Views
yah, and it's kind of shooting themselves in the foot anyways - 03/12/2010 09:10:21 AM 724 Views
xkcd - 03/12/2010 10:35:24 AM 884 Views

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