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Alcohol in space.

Just because we on Earth make it biologically, does not mean that is the only way. It's not DNA were talking about, it's only a hydrocarbon.
 
Good thing they mentioned that "methanol is not suitable for human consumption" just in case we were all thinking of flying out there to get some.
 
Cainkane1 said:
I always thought that alcohol was a by product of biological processes.
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In terrestrial environments, yes, it is. But biological processes are not the only mechanism by which alcohol can be created.

Is this interstellar alcohol a by product of living things in space? Could this be proof of extraterrestrial organisms?
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No and no. Alcohol and other hydrocarbons can be created by no-biological chemical processes. The presence of interstellar alcohol doesn't mean that there's life out there, it means that interstellar space is not chemically inert. Which is interesting, but not "we've found life!" interesting.
 
A couple of things:

1) This article was published in 2006. Old news I am afraid, but interesting nonetheless. :)

2) It has been known longer than that of the existance of alcohol clouds in space. I first came abreast of this knowledge in the fictional book "Contact", by Carl Sagan. Here is a link of the history of alcohol clouds and some speculation from the Joint Astronomy Center in Hawaii about their formation:
http://jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/publications/newsletter/n5/sci2.html

The chemistry is a bit vague for laymen, but essentially, regions of star formation can create a lot of heat, which allows free oxygen radicals to be scavanged (picked up by bonding) by hydrocarbon molecules present in the clouds.
 
Yep. Somewhere in space, you can find basically every small organic molecule you can think of. O2, CO2, CO, H2O, CH4, C2H6, C2H4, C2H2, CH2O, CH3OH, CS, CN, N2, NH3, etc., as well as things you'll never find on Earth like C2, C3, C4.
 
Wow, finally evidence that not only do space aliens exist, but that they are rednecks littering the neighborhood.
 
Ziggurat said:
In terrestrial environments, yes, it is. But biological processes are not the only mechanism by which alcohol can be created.
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Would the process used on Earth for this particular alcohol be considered biological? I think this particular alcohol is primarily produced by reacting methane with water. Not exactly a biological process per se, although the methane was probably produced biologically.
 
Methanol is produced by yeasts, if they are fed cellulose. Poor brewing practice is to ferment grains with the husks, the husks being the cellulose food. It's that "wood alcohol" in moonshine that makes drinkers go blind.
 
It's not a hydrocarbon. It has oxygen in it. A hydrocarbon contains only carbon and hydrogen. Thus the name.
 
lomiller said:
Wow, finally evidence that not only do space aliens exist, but that they are rednecks littering the neighborhood.
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Hey, this is a sceptics site, you're too hasty! I'm withholding judgement until I see a space-road sign full of laser-blast holes. Bonus points if the sign reads 'Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers'.
 
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In other news . . . Spaced-out JREFers spotted deep in alcohol cloud
 
casebro said:
Methanol is produced by yeasts, if they are fed cellulose. Poor brewing practice is to ferment grains with the husks, the husks being the cellulose food. It's that "wood alcohol" in moonshine that makes drinkers go blind.
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Not true. Methanol is not produced by yeast in any significant amount, nor is it produced from cellulose. In fruit, pectin will breakdown into methanol, but even if you intentionally add extra pectin to a brew it will not be anywhere near a dangerous level. The methanol plus other impurities might make for an unpleasant hangover, but they are easy to distill off first and throw away. It's more of a problem for apples, which naturally have a lot of pectin, hence the reputation cider and applejack have.

Cellulose can be turned into alcohol, but in this case it's actually turned into ethanol. The process is to use sulfuric acid to breakdown cellulose into glucose. It's the same idea as fuel from corn, but was sometimes called 'wood alcohol' because wood was the feedstock. 'Wood alcohol' meaning methanol was produced as a byproduct of charcoal: i.e. you need to heat wood to a very high temperature with a minimal amount of oxygen.

The reputation for moonshine causing blindness is mostly a myth, as it's really not that difficult to safely distill alcohol. After all, people discovered distillation long before they knew anything about organic chemistry. The danger mostly came from using old car radiators as stills: there could easily be lead or antifreeze. It's possible that someone intentionally added wood alcohol to make their moonshine seem more potent, but it's would be hard to accidentally produce a poisonous amount of methanol by brewing and distilling.
 
Ziggurat said:
In terrestrial environments, yes, it is. But biological processes are not the only mechanism by which alcohol can be created.



No and no. Alcohol and other hydrocarbons can be created by no-biological chemical processes. The presence of interstellar alcohol doesn't mean that there's life out there, it means that interstellar space is not chemically inert. Which is interesting, but not "we've found life!" interesting.
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Well darn it.
 
I remember hearing conjecture that this space alcohol might have reached earth by way of meteorites and that it was one possible way to kick start the biological process. I do not know if this has any scientific basis as being possible or not, but it was an interesting thought to me. Some meteorites got Mother Earth drunk on some deep space moonshine and a few hundred million laters boom, she's a single mom.
 
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