Interesting take on pan-spermia

[Prebe]

www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1526&category=Science

I think we talked about this before, and I haven't checked up on it in a while.

The apparent fact that he now has the little buggers breeding at extreme temperatures and pressure really has me intrigued. I SO wish I could get to see that with my own eyes.

I'm still unable to find any real holes in it, except for the posibility of complete or clever partial fabrication. I mean, the guy is from India. He may be trying to support a starving family....

[Loredoctor]

www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1526&category=Science

I think we talked about this before, and I haven't checked up on it in a while.

The apparent fact that he now has the little buggers breeding at extreme temperatures and pressure really has me intrigued. I SO wish I could get to see that with my own eyes.

I'm still unable to find any real holes in it, except for the posibility of complete or clever partial fabrication. I mean, the guy is from India. He may be trying to support a starving family....

I read a couple of years ago that there are some holes in the claims. One such is that why are the microbes just raining on Kerala? If they were coming from space, some argue that it's more likely that they would cover a wider region than India and over a more prolonged period. There are also issues with how the scientists claim they found no DNA.

[Prebe]

Yes, I also read something like that. But I haven't seen any vehement rebukes, be they scientific or not, which I think you would expect given the rather outlandish claims.

Anyway, even if it's not of extraterestrial origin (which I don't think it is) and even if the cells DO contain DNA (which I think they do) it is STILL interesting. Considering the apparent thermophilous nature of the little critters.

[wayfriend]

I wonder if this is related, and is a possible explanation. (The origin of this story is remarkably coincidental...)

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian scientists have discovered three new species of bacteria in Earth's upper stratosphere that are resistant to ultraviolet radiation, researchers said.

The bacteria do not match any species found on Earth. They were found in samples that scientists collected when they sent a balloon into the stratosphere, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said in a statement Monday.

That layer of the Earth receives heavy doses of ultraviolet radiation, enough to kill most organisms.

In their analyses of the retrieved samples, microbiologists detected 12 bacterial and six fungal colonies.

Of them, three bacterial colonies were new species, the ISRO said.

Indian scientists named one of them Janibacter hoylei, after astrophysicist Fred Hoyle.

"While the present study does not conclusively establish the extraterrestrial origin of microorganisms, it does provide positive encouragement to continue the work in our quest to explore the origin of life," the ISRO said.

[Prebe]

The Indian stratosphere/atmosphere seems to be teeming with life

I'd have to look closer at the baloon results though.

1: It is important to differentiate between microorganism propagules and organisms actually reproducing and respiring/metabolising in the upper atmosphere/stratosphere.

2: It is also important to make absolutely sure that the organisms found (be they propagules or actively living organisms) actually originate in the strata they claim, i.e. to exclude the posibility of the organisms "getting aboard" during ascent or descent.

In using the term "Colonies" I'd wager that what they found were CFU (colony forming units) which can be anything from the most dormant and thick shelled of spores with next to no metabolic activity, and to a nice little flobbely dobbely amoeba.