Aliens Up North
A scientific team from the University of Sheffield, led by Prof Milton Wainwright, believe they have found evidence of life arriving to Earth from space, which could "completely change our view of biology and evolution". To gather samples in the stratosphere during the Perseid meteor shower, they launched a balloon near Chester on 31 July. It carried microscopic studs in a drawer that opened for 17 minutes in the stratosphere so that particulate material would attach to them. Samples were taken at altitudes of between 14 and 17 miles (22-27km). The frustules (cell walls) of single-celled algæ known as diatoms were gathered, retrieved near Wakefield, and studied under an electron microscope. The researchers insist they took precautions against contamination.
"Most people will assume that these biological particles must have just drifted up to the stratosphere," said Prof Wainwright. "But it is generally accepted that a particle of the size found cannot be lifted from Earth to heights of, for example, 27km (16.5 miles). The only known exception is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of the trip." The findings are published in the Journal of Cosmology, a controversial organ that champions the panspermia hypothesis - that micro-organisms are constantly carried between planets by asteroids, comets, and meteors.
Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe and other panspermia advocates are naturally delighted; many scientists, however, remain sceptical. "If they were able to show that the diatom frustules] was composed of all D amino acids - proteins in Earth life are made of L amino acids - that would be pretty convincing to me," said Chris Mckay, an astrobiologist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. "So some sort of biochemical indication that it does not share Earth biochemistry. If it does indeed share Earth biochemistry, proving that it is of alien origin is probably impossible."
medicaldaily.com, 10 Sept; space.com, D.Telegraph, 20 Sept 2013.
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