Scientists Discover White Dwarf Star with the Building Blocks for Life

The team of scientists have discovered a white dwarf star 200 light years from Earth whose atmosphere contains levels of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen believed to have been deposited when the star ripped apart a minor planet.

The discovery and source of the elements in the Star suggest that the planetary system has its own version of our Kuiper belt from which the minor planet came and that processes that delivered water to planets like Earth and Mars are replicated in other Planetary systems.

Benjamin Zuckerman, a co-author of the research and a UCLA professor of astronomy, said the study presents evidence that the planetary system associated with the white dwarf contains materials that are the basic building blocks for life. And although the study focused on this particular star -- known as WD 1425+540 -- the fact that its planetary system shares characteristics with our solar system strongly suggests that other planetary systems would also.
"The findings indicate that some of life's important preconditions are common in the universe," Zuckerman said.

The scientists report that a minor planet in the planetary system was orbiting around the white dwarf, and its trajectory was somehow altered, perhaps by the gravitational pull of a planet in the same system. That change caused the minor planet to travel very close to the white dwarf, where the star's strong gravitational field ripped the minor planet apart into gas and dust. Those remnants went into orbit around the white dwarf -- much like the rings around Saturn, Zuckerman said -- before eventually spiraling onto the star itself, bringing with them the building blocks for life.

The scientists analyzed the contents of the Star's atmosphere and concluded its recent meal was made up of 30 percent water and other gases and 70 percent rocky material.

"If there is water in Kuiper belt-like objects around other stars, as there now appears to be, then when rocky planets form they need not contain life's ingredients," said Siyi Xu, the study's lead author, a postdoctoral scholar at the European Southern Observatory in Germany who earned her doctorate at UCLA.

"Now we're seeing in a planetary system outside our solar system that there are minor planets where water, nitrogen and carbon are present in abundance, as in our solar system's Kuiper belt," Xu said. "If Earth obtained its water, nitrogen and carbon from the impact of such objects, then rocky planets in other planetary systems could also obtain their water, nitrogen and carbon this way."
newsroom.ucla.edu...

The more we learn the more it becomes apparent we can't possibly be alone.

I think you need to be some kind of special person if you believe there isn't life in our own Galaxy, let alone the billions of galaxies in the universe.

Whether any organism has managed to perfect space travel and have decided to explore the universe is another question.

We are learning more and more about the vast amount of nothingness we are travelling around, yet we will never fully understand all of its secrets.

The building blocks for life "as we know it," correct? I am also fascinated how narrow-minded some extremely intelligent scientists can be. We are always looking for what makes life "as we know it." What about life as we do not know it? Isn't there a strong possibility that elsewhere in the universe there will be some form of being that exist based on completely different "building blocks." Don't we even have some creatures on this planet that baffle out understanding of "life" (sulfur breathing organisms, for example)?

Why does all "life" in the universe need water to survive?

Are we just looking for a replacement planet? Are we just looking for more humans?

One of my favorite things to think about is how it is technically possible that there is another planet out there with dinosaurs on it (or some variation). We are never out there looking for dinosaurs, and that disappoints me!

a reply to: ExNihiloRed

The problem with life as we do not know it is we don't know how to look for it , life as we know it is easier to find and a good starting place in think.

a reply to: gortex

I suppose that's a wise response. Would be real #ty if we were the only form of life with our building blocks. No one can find us, and we can't find anyone else.

a reply to: ExNihiloRed

In the other hand there's a possibility that there are humans in other worlds. Most likely they have been transferred by an alien civilization a la the original Star Gate movie or Star Trek.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: ExNihiloRed


In the other hand it's a possibility that there are humans in other worlds. Most likely they have been transferred by an alien civilization a la the original Star Gate movie or Star Trek.

Or, due to the vast size of space, there is a chance that the same event that created us (whatever it may be from a scientific, not religious perspective) created the same life on another similar planet. It is not out of the realm of possibilities, I can recognize that.

EDIT: Although I would be fascinated to see how those "other humans" evolved and developed. Are they ahead of us, behind us, on a completely different path? There are many fundamental historical events that shaped our civilization. Good movie idea?

a reply to: Cobaltic1978

I dunno, I like the great filter hypothesis, it makes a lot of sense to me.

Although I am SURE we are not alone, I don't necessarily think the galaxy we live in is teeming with life by any measure.

Better known as the Fermi Paradox ( for those of you seeing any of this for the first time) it seems likely that highly complex civilisations are likely few and far between.

Life, without intelligence, is still life though I suppose and I guess I misspoke above when I said the galaxy isn't teeming with it, it most certainly is in that respect.

Of course, there's also the other really good piece of advice to think about when discussing life out there:

If you're a hammer, then all your problems look like nails. Not knowing what kind of life exists outside of carbon based life, or how that would look, form etc, is quite a detriment to our ability to look for it.

~Tenth

a reply to: starwarsisreal

I believe that if we could travel to other planets we would find other Humanoids but they would be physically adapted to their planetary conditions , I think it likely there would be creatures who's form we would also recognise , there is much replication both in the Universe and here on Earth I don't see why that wouldn't be reflected in the creation of life.

Not sure about the Star Gates though.

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: Cobaltic1978

I dunno, I the great filter hypothesis makes a lot of sense to me.

Although I am SURE we are not alone, I don't necessarily think the galaxy we live in is teeming with life by any measure.

Better known as the Fermi Paradox ( for those of you seeing any of this for the first time) it seems likely that highly complex civilisations are likely few and far between.

Life, without intelligence, is still life though I suppose and I guess I misspoke above when I said the galaxy isn't teeming with it, it most certainly is in that respect.

Of course, there's also the other really good piece of advice to think about when discussing life out there:

If you're a hammer, then all your problems look like nails. Not knowing what kind of life exists outside of carbon based life, or how that would look, form etc, is quite a detriment to our ability to look for it.

~Tenth

I think the sheer size of the universe is a factor we cannot comprehend. I don't disagree that our galaxy may be devoid of "intelligent" life forms, but the number of galaxies and stars and plants is almost unfathomable. Outside of religious ideologies, what are the chances that life only developed and evolved into an intelligent being on a single planet. Or just a handful? "Few and far between" when it comes to the universe could mean millions or billions of intelligent species.

a reply to: ExNihiloRed

I think Star Wars already covered that scenario of humans in other worlds.

In their galaxy their history was influenced by the existence of other alien civilizations.

I do believe being humans, if Earth humans encountered them war is inevitable. I don't know about other hypothetical alien species, all I know was we humans will fight each other because that's our nature.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: ExNihiloRed

I think Star Wars already covered that scenario of humans in other worlds.

In their galaxy their history was influenced by the existence of other alien civilizations.

I do believe being humans, if Earth humans encountered them war is inevitable. I don't know about other hypothetical alien species, all I know was we humans will fight each other because that's our nature.

Be interested to figure out how we communicate considering there are an insane amount of languages just on our planet along. Free movie plug: Arrival. Worth the watch.

a reply to: ExNihiloRed

utside of religious ideologies, what are the chances that life only developed and evolved into an intelligent being on a single planet.

If the universe is only 12 billion years old and we know how long it took for the building blocks of life to be made available for us here, as in the stars exploded and seeded galaxies etc, then we also know how long it would theoretically take for advanced civilisations to appear.

Our current idea is that between the time the earth was created and we popped up, was like 3.8 billion years. So, if the universe is 12 or so billion, that gives...5 or 6 billion years where we had enough 'stuff' at our disposal for life to become a thing.

I think Type II civilisations are probably very rare. Type 1 are probably very common, but never make it beyond a certain point for a variety of factors. And I would venture a guess that type 3 Civilisations are even more rare.

If there's one thing we know about the universe is that it doesn't care about us, or what we are doing. We are literally always one solar flare away from being gone and the record of everything we were destroyed in an instant.

The more active a system is, the more dangerous it becomes. We are lucky, our neck of the woods is pretty lame for that.

And I can only speak from a perspective of bias because there is no divorcing myself from the fact that I am human and therefore all my problems are human ones right? Like I was saying earlier, if you're a hammer, than all you've ever seen is nails.

For all we know there are rock creatures in the solar system next door who are as alive as we think we are. I don't know,and the math would imply that the sheer number of planets and stars means there are others out there.

I just don't think the universe is set up for that if you know what I mean? Complex life and civilisations are probably more the result of luck and complex chemistry than anything else.

~Tenth

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: Cobaltic1978

I dunno, I the great filter hypothesis makes a lot of sense to me.

Although I am SURE we are not alone, I don't necessarily think the galaxy we live in is teeming with life by any measure.

Better known as the Fermi Paradox ( for those of you seeing any of this for the first time) it seems likely that highly complex civilisations are likely few and far between.

Life, without intelligence, is still life though I suppose and I guess I misspoke above when I said the galaxy isn't teeming with it, it most certainly is in that respect.

Of course, there's also the other really good piece of advice to think about when discussing life out there:

If you're a hammer, then all your problems look like nails. Not knowing what kind of life exists outside of carbon based life, or how that would look, form etc, is quite a detriment to our ability to look for it.

~Tenth

How many star systems in the galaxy?

There are over a billion more discovered recently, thanks to a new telescope that is gathering as much information about the galaxy, it's called 'Gaia'.

We know nothing my friend. You could be right, you could be wrong.

www.bbc.co.uk...

a reply to: ExNihiloRed

Math would have to be the universal language, because it's the only thing that would be universal, the laws of nature and physics.

~Tenth

a reply to: Cobaltic1978

How many star systems in the galaxy?

It's not about the sheer number, it's the habitable amount. More than not, those systems are too hot or too cold to support life, don't have the resources required etc.

Sit in front of other kinds of celestial bodies that constantly up heave those systems.

Our solar system is a bit of unicorn in a lot of ways. Just the fact that it doesn't' seem to be a binary solar system is odd enough.

~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

But your ideas can apply to other humans in other planets.

Sure we don't know anything about non human intelligent species but we do know how hypothetical non Earth humans will behave. I mean if there are humans transferred from our world to another world by an unknown alien civilization we will probably understand the workings of their societies since they are humans like us.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: tothetenthpower

But your ideas can apply to other humans in other planets.

Sure we don't know anything about non human intelligent species but we do know how hypothetical non Earth humans will behave. I mean if there are humans transferred from our world to another world by an unknown alien civilization we will probably understand the workings of their societies since they are humans like us.

I don't believe there are other 'human' civilisations at all. I even highly doubt we would find anything 'humanoid' out there either if we did. At least not the way we envision it.

The math doesn't support the idea that the same species would be present anywhere else in the universe but where it originally came from, unless transported by a Type 3 Civilisation etc.

~Tenth

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: Cobaltic1978

How many star systems in the galaxy?

Our solar system is a bit of unicorn in a lot of ways. Just the fact that it doesn't' seem to be a binary solar system is odd enough.

~Tenth

What we know of it, sure it is.

But as I said, we know nothing. Yes, we know something's, but that's the problem. A little knowledge, can be dangerous. We can only work within our own knowledge and perceptions.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Since we'll go by your scenarios about non Earth humans being transported a la Stargate, we can apply human logic when we view the transported humans' societies in other worlds. For example, we can say that they will go to war against us because humans by nature are violent and history proves it.

Also I remember it is said Islam believes that there are humans in other planets. Most likely Allah is an alien that transported humans?