ISS image of Mono Lake, where arsenic and abundant life both exist. Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center.

Mono Lake is usually in the spotlight for photographers, birders, and those seeking solutions to balanced water needs in California. You don’t see many geochemists, astrobiologists, or NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory staff plying Mono’s shoreline. However, they certainly have been around over the years, and it seems that Mono Lake is getting a little more attention due to it harboring an arsenic-eating microbe. The greater implication for our understanding of life here and elsewhere is exciting … but don’t conclude that Mono Lake is a toxic, arsenic-saturated lake!

There is arsenic in Mono Lake, but it’s (more…)

News of NASA’s recent ground-breaking finding that a bacterium, discovered at Mono Lake, could eat and grow on a diet of arsenic instead of phosphorus, has the Mono Lake Committee office buzzing with phone calls and emails from around the world. The implications for this information are astounding….

See the details in this morning’s  New York Times article.

This new BBC article is also quite good.

You can also watch the press conference here at 11:00am Pacific time for the latest news.

Tufa towers at Mono Lake in California's Eastern Sierra.

UPDATE: December 2, 2010: The press conference is over and the news is huge. See all our coverage of this major announcement here!

Today NASA announced a press conference that will discuss

“an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.”

Internet discussion is abuzz and many speculations expect the announcement to include Mono Lake, in particular discussion of arsenic-loving bacteria within the lake, perhaps a newly discovered species. We’ll wait for the announcement, but Mono Lake’s bacterial residents may well reveal that entirely new and unexpected forms of life are possible on other planets.

More news as we hear it. The press conference is scheduled for December 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time (that’s 11am to us Mono Lake folks). Oh, and though many media reports are saying Mono Lake is within Yosemite National Park, don’t forget that the lake actually lies just outside the popular park, right in the heart of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area!

Previous discussion in The Mono-logue: Mono Lake and the shadow biosphere

On the Internet: ‘Life as we don’t know it’ discovery could prove existence of aliens