You're missing the point-- what's the probability that they use amino acids at all? Even if Martian life is an offshoot of proto-Earth life, there's a widely accepted chemical evolution theory called the RNA world hypothesis, which suggests that early terrestrial life was based entirely on RNA, and that proteins and DNA evolved later as more effective machinery (proteins) and more stable information storage (DNA). Even if life from both planets had the same origins, it's incredibly unlikely that they both evolved even the same basic machinery.

I should also point out Tangent's tutorials, which are fantastic introductions into wiring and soldering even if you're not interested in audio work.

I would start with DIY audio electronics, since it's easy to test, usually not dangerous, and you get a useful product in the end. The CMoy amplifier is popular and has several good tutorials written about building them from RadioShack parts for about $25. The best is from TangentSoft. The CMoy has a simple circuit that should be pretty obvious to anyone with some classwork in electrical engineering. You can build the amp without that knowledge, too. If you enjoy it then there's a huge range of other more advanced kits and schematics to build from.

Fine. No one dims the lights and sits to listen to an hour of music non-stop anymore. Music is the background noise that we play when we're doing other things. It simply doesn't hold our focus the way it used to. I'm arguing that the reason why is because the way we listen to music now doesn't engage us the same way it did 40 years ago.

This is an argument that I don't buy from a signal processing perspective. Your ears can't physically hear the distortion caused by the bit discreteness-- that's all in the upper frequency range. My argument is that your body can still unconsciously "feel" those frequencies.

Many of you misunderstand my position.

1) I'm young enough to have never owned a tape player growing up, let alone a record player. I almost exclusively listen to music released in the last 5 years. I have no nostalgia for the past or any desire to be anachronistic. I just love listening to music.

2) I'm a scientist, and not a fluffy one-- I'm an analytical chemist working in a terminal scientific position. I like unbiased data. Unfortunately we don't have any. What I can tell you is my personal subjective testing strategy.

I'll often buy duplicate copies of music I like, both on CD and on vinyl. There are many reasons why, and convenience is certainly at the top. I have a system where I can A/B my sources, keeping the same amps and speakers.

Using audiophile headphones, I usually can't tell any difference in quality. Usually the vinyl has enough negative and distracting features to make me dislike that listening experience.

Using speakers is a completely different experience. The vinyl feels more engaging and makes me want to focus on just the music-- ignoring the reproduction. When I try to work to vinyl I find myself listening to the music and forgetting what I was supposed to do. I don't have this problem when I try to work to CDs.

Understand that I spent years trying to "hear" the difference between vinyl and CDs. From a technical perspective, I cried BS in every which way. I'm a firm believer that the difference is real but not something you can hear.

I'm 100% behind you. If the music industry honestly adopted SACD or DVD-Audio, I would absolutely use that. Honestly, those formats have died a stillborn death. There is much more new vinyl released today than SACDs.

I'm not a believer in fancy speaker cables-- I can't hear the difference. The audio rocks and clocks guys are complete BS. However, if you can't hear the difference between a 200 dollar integrated stereo and an intentionally designed high-fi system, you haven't tried.

I'll start by saying that I'm an audiophile. I have an all vacuum tube, several thousand dollar stereo that I hand built from source to speakers. I still prefer to buy music on vinyl. If I had the disposable cash, I'd buy it on reel-to-reel tape.

That said, the parent has accidentally stumbled upon the correct answer. FLAC, MP3, OGG, whatever-- if you want higher quality, then listen to BETTER MUSIC.

The most important part of high quality music is the musician. The second is the engineer. Beyond that, everything is just incremental gains. Audiophiles know this and spend their energy getting the right recording of the music they love. And I'm not just talking about old stodgy stuff. There's tons of great new music released new on vinyl geared towards audiophiles-- it's just all labeled "indie".

Let me spend half a minute on vinyl vs CD vs MP3. CD and MP3 contain data that your ears can hear and they both contain that data very accurately. I certainly can't tell the difference between a CD and an MP3 recorded at 192 KBPS. Vinyl is the only format of the three that contains very high and very low frequency data that you cannot hear. You can't hear this data, but you can feel it, physically with your body. This sensation enhances the realness of the recording and makes it feel more engaging and more alive. Anyone can hear and feel this, but usually they can't describe it or perhaps even notice it. They show the difference by not wanting to get up and do dishes, or homework, or play a game, but by wanting to sit and close their eyes and just listen to the music.

Forty years ago people used to sit down and listen to albums. Albums! The reason why we don't do it anymore is NOT because of a lack of time or high quality new music-- we have both those things. It's because the music doesn't engage us anymore. It simply doesn't contain the data to make us forget that we're listening to a recording.