# Molecular Cloud gives Hubble Telescope the Finger

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 3, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223 "2014-10-03T00:20:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223/1 "2014-10-03T00:20:50Z")

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I stumbled across this image on Yahoo this morning. Yahoo was too polite to make the comment I used as the thread title. But I’ll bet they were _thinking_ it.  
The picture is actually a few years old. Maybe they were just looking for an excuse to run it.

> **[New Chemical Signals From The Middle Of Our Galaxy Are A Good Sign For Alien...](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chemical-signals-middle-galaxy-good-212725075.html)**
>
> Aliens! The recent discovery of molecular...

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**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223/2 "2014-10-03T00:29:28Z")

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From the linked article:

> [@](#):
>
> All amino acids, the molecules that make up proteins in human cells, muscles, and other tissues, contain a type of organic compound called iso-propyl cyanide

This is not true. No amino acids, in any sense, _contain_ iso-propyl cyanide. (It may be the case that certain amino acids can be relatively easily synthesized by starting from iso-propyl cyanide, but that is quite a different matter.)

That picture has been around on the web for years.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223/3 "2014-10-03T00:35:44Z")

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> [@njtt](#):
>
> That picture has been around on the web for years.

As I say in the last line of the OP

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223/4 "2014-10-03T00:45:55Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> New Chemical Signals From \*\*The Middle \*\*Of Our Galaxy Are A Good Sign For Alien Life

That’s a deliberate inside joke about that image. 😃

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molecular-cloud-gives-hubble-telescope-the-finger/700223/5 "2014-10-03T11:31:47Z")

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We are a hilarious species. Shown the majesty of the cosmos, we get all Beavis and Butthead.

(to be clear, the first thing I did when I clicked on the link and saw the photo was think “heh heh, heh heh,” too…)