A team of researchers from Plex Corporation, Bruker Scientific LLC and Harvard University > has found evidence of < a protein inside of a meteorite.<p>there is a mismatch between the title of that article and the level of confidence these researchers were expressing.<p>the preprint is here:<p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11688" rel="nofollow">https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11688</a>
I need to make time to ask someone to ELI5 to me how this research is done without contaminating the sample with terrestrial-originated protein. The meteorite was on Earth for some time, and bacteria are staggeringly invasive little bugs.<p>I believe they successfully avoid contamination, but I have no idea how.
I read a comment on HN or Reddit a while back about how some molecules were found in a meteorite that were left-handed where every molecule on earth is right-handed or something to that extent.<p>If my memory serves it was as if molecules fit together like a lock and key except this molecule's key/lock combo was inverted.<p>Apologies if I'm bungling it up but it felt as though it was significant. As if the molecule found was unlike any molecule on earth due to its lock/key orientation.
Before we even get into the role of expert peer reviewers, does the article pass basic tests of authenticity, let alone extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary proof?<p>The third author of the referenced paper does have a page at Harvard, here:
<a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~mcgeoch/index.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~mcgeoch/index.html</a>
where she says she is at the "Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University" but she's not listed as faculty in that department here:
<a href="https://www.mcb.harvard.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/" rel="nofollow">https://www.mcb.harvard.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/</a><p>Could be a student... but do a search for
Malcolm. W. McGeoch, Sergei Dikler, Julie E. M. McGeoch from
Plex Corporation, Bruker Scientific LLC and Harvard University<p>and you will start to wonder if these people even know their names have been used in this article. Shame on phys.org for not calling the author for a quote or doing any other legwork to convince me this is anything other than a UFO hoax or the output of a paper-writing AI. It <i>could</i> be, but ...journalist please.