The molecule, called glycolaldehyde, was spotted in a large star-forming area of space around 26,000 light-years from Earth in the less-chaotic outer regions of the Milky Way. This suggests the sugar could be common across the universe, which is good news for extraterrestrial-life seekers.


http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/sugar-molecule.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp



Me personally, I believe there is life out there; intelligent life. We have found proof of viruses and other microorganisms in space before this, and it is just too unfeasable to believe, not to mention arrogant, that we are the only inteligent life in total existence.

dunno yet

I guess we'll see what we see when we see

ya see?

I wonder more about whether there is life IN there... with most people...

The outer life is hardly relevant to the species, if the inner life is in turmoil.

I know that humans are possible,I know that Earth-like planets are possible, so it doesn't seem very unrealistic to me, to assume there could be humans,like us, on other "Earths" somewhere in the universe.

They can find a molecule across the galaxy and I can't even find my keys.

ya, and what about that dude that shot the rapper? anyway, not to be a negative thinker here, but how would they ever be able to prove such a thing?

My thoughts exactly. How do they find a molecule that far away. And where are my keys?

And about your question: "Is there life out there?"

Trust me on this.

Yes.

Everywhere.

It might not all be life as we know it either.

I believe the universe or multi-verse is/are big enough for EVERY eventuality. If God exists IT is certainly alien to us, but that's only one school of thought.

I admit I am not up on all of the new technology of today, but I am curious as to how we can spot something as small as a molecule 26,000 light-years from Earth. I was under the impression that molecules were very small anyway.

Just how big is this molecule and what did we spot it with?

Am I missing something? Do we have a telescope that can see a molecule 26,000 light years away?

Yes, you are missing something . . . its a technology that is 50 years old . . .

So can you briefly explain to me how we can spot a molecule 26,000 light-years from Earth?

So I was wrong, its much much older . . .

http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology/tools/tools-spectroscopy.htm

I hope when the day comes that life out there finds us that the life doesn't take one look at us and say "no intelligent life here"

Ever wonder if maybe there is a big multi-planet party going on in the center of our galaxy and we are stuck out here on the edge missing all the fun?

We live in the Milky Way boon docks.

there has to be something better and more intelligent than mankind somewhere out there...be seeing you

I can only imagine that it was through the use of spectroscopy.

However, I would be very leery about trusting that data for many reasons. I think there are other expanations that could account for such an observation.

In any case, I would be extremely surprised if there is no other life in this universe. I can't see how that could be possible.

My guess is that every galaxy is teeming with life including our own.

Now, intelligent life that has become technological? That might be a bit more rare.

Just look at the Earth. It took over 30,000 species to evolve just to produce two technological species. And one of those two were killed off very early on by the other one.

So there could be planets all through our galaxies that have thousands of species of living animals on them, yet nary a one that has become technological.

All species tend to kill to survive. So the idea of a planet harboring two different technological speices simultaneously is probably very slim as they would most like battle until only one species survives.

We even war amoung ourselves as a single species!

That seems to be the nature of living cretures. Almost all animals are territorial.

In the entire universe as a whole?

I would surely hope so!

However, we may very well be the smartest idiots in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Interesting that they can not truely see something the size of jupiter at that distance... Yet they claim to be able to detect a molecule?