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The greatest closing paragraph to a scientific paper ever?
This honor goes to Dr. Ronald Breslow of Columbia University, who ended his recent paper "Evidence for the Likely Origin of Homochirality in Amino Acids, Sugars, and Nucleosides on Prebiotic Earth" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society with an ominous editorial. After an otherwise technical paper about the prehistoric origins of amino acids, the conclusion takes a turn for the extremely sinister. Emphasis is ours:
An
implication
from
this
work
is
that
elsewhere
in
the
universe
there
could
be
life
forms
based
on
D
amino
acids
and
L
sugars,
depending
on
the
chirality
of
circular
polarized
light
in
that
sector
of
the
universe or
whatever
other
process
operated
to
favor
the
L
?‐methyl
amino acids
in
the
meteorites
that
have
landed
on Earth.
Such
life
forms
could
well
be
advanced
versions
of
dinosaurs,
if
mammals
did
not
have the
good
fortune
to
have
the
dinosaurs
wiped
out
by
an
asteroidal
collision,
as
on
Earth.
We
would
be
better
off
not
meeting
them.
To make matters all the more hilarious, the press release for this paper has somehow spun this extraterrestrial snippet into the central focus:
Could "Advanced" Dinosaurs Rule Other Planets?
New scientific research raises the possibility that advanced versions of T. rex and other dinosaurs — monstrous creatures with the intelligence and cunning of humans — may be the life forms that evolved on other planets in the universe.
New scientific research raises the possibility that advanced versions of T. rex and other dinosaurs — monstrous creatures with the intelligence and cunning of humans — may be the life forms that evolved on other planets in the universe.
Given the nature of online academic publishing, there is the possibility this sentence could be excised in the final draft. For the sake of future human-xenosaurian diplomacy, this may not be a terrible idea. Our Star Tyrannosaurus allies could have extremely sensitive feelings.
http://io9.com/5901054/this-is-the-greatest-closing-paragraph-to-a-scientific-paper-ever?tag=dinosaurs
12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
is more advanced than Allen West.
What's not to love?
... dinosaur infestations require active control measures.
-- Galactic Garden Book
