World Science is reporting on a controversial paper to be published shortly in the peer-reviewed research journal Astrophysics and Space Science, describing a strange red rain that fell in India in 2001, shortly after a meteor airburst event in the area.
The authors posit that the red particles found in the raindrops may be extraterrestrial microbes. The authors' last two papers on the subject were unpublished: this published paper is more cautious. The paper can be viewed online, and should obviously be considered in context.
A paper to appear in a scientific journal claims a strange red rain might have dumped microbes from space onto Earth four years ago.
But the report is meeting with a shower of skepticism from scientists who say extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof—and this one hasn’t got it.
The scientists agree on two points, though. The things look like cells, at least superficially. And no one is sure what they are.
“These particles have much similarity with biological cells though they are devoid of DNA,†wrote Godfrey Louis and A. Santhosh Kumar of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, India, in the controversial paper.
“Are these cell-like particles a kind of alternate life from space?â€
The particles at about 1000 times actual size
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source : slashdot, world-science.net
The authors posit that the red particles found in the raindrops may be extraterrestrial microbes. The authors' last two papers on the subject were unpublished: this published paper is more cautious. The paper can be viewed online, and should obviously be considered in context.
A paper to appear in a scientific journal claims a strange red rain might have dumped microbes from space onto Earth four years ago.
But the report is meeting with a shower of skepticism from scientists who say extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof—and this one hasn’t got it.
The scientists agree on two points, though. The things look like cells, at least superficially. And no one is sure what they are.
“These particles have much similarity with biological cells though they are devoid of DNA,†wrote Godfrey Louis and A. Santhosh Kumar of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, India, in the controversial paper.
“Are these cell-like particles a kind of alternate life from space?â€
The particles at about 1000 times actual size
___________
source : slashdot, world-science.net