We are all but stardust - really
Now this is really… well, I don’t know what. Just something that makes you say, “Holy crap!”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6146292.stm
(Also excellent: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/life/beginnings/comet.shtml)
I can’t wait to hear about
-W.
posted by William H. Harwood at 11:19 PM
1 Comments:
Okay, lets recap some of these articles.
Two of them claim bacteria found in the upper atmosphere by Dr. Wickramasinghe's experiments may be from outer space.
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6146292.stm
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1466477.stm
One discusses the evidence that amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) can be formed in space.
* http://www.esa.int/esaCP/ESA5SQG18ZC_FeatureWeek_2.html
And finally, we see an article about how a basic cell membrane (the outer wall of a cell) could have formed in space.
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1142840.stm
For those of you clutching your Roswell souvenirs, lets cover the bad news first. In the scientific community there are two generally accepted means of coming to a conclusion. The first is to develop a series of experiments that will explicitly confirm or deny your theory. The second is to use analytical or experimental methods to rule out EVERY other explanation. The two methods are often used to complement one another. However reading these two articles, I wonder if Dr. Wickramasinghe used either of these methods. It's possible he and his team jumped to conclusions too quickly.
Said Dr. W: "It's exceedingly unlikely that they could have been lifted up from the ground in the quantity that we find." (~1000 bacteria/liter). Wickramasinghe does not explain why this is unlikely common airborne bacteria here on Earth could not exist or be carried to higher elevations, or why space-born bacteria would stay in the high atmosphere. This is also an extraordinary claim to make before a paper has been thoroughly peer reviewed. We'll see what happens, but I'll remain skeptical until the final review is done. On to the amino acids.
This is the 1st time I've seen a paper discussing the formation of membranes and amino acids in space. But the concept of amino acids spontaneously forming is nothing new. What no one understands yet is how a collection of amino acids could have spontaneously formed into a protein. This is the most significant missing link in the evolutionary theory on the origin of life.
Lastly a note about life or the building blocks of life coming from outer space. If you believe the scientific view of Earth's origin than this is an easy one! The Earth was formed from a disk of dust and gases surrounding the Sun. Then almost by definition, Life on earth came from outer space. You also have to consider that a single comet can't populate an entire planet. The theory goes that life formed in vast pools of water and amino acids...essentially a giant organic soup. So it could have been millions of comets that spawned life on Earth. So where did comets come from? Well, really large supernova are the only natural source of elements heavier than hydrogen. So whether our amino acids formed on Earth or in comets, we all come from stars that went super nova, meaning we are the byproducts of nuclear waste.
And for us Christians out there, why shouldn't God use comets to bring life to the Earth. Okay, maybe it spoils the story that Adam was made from clay, but who cares? Eve was still made from a rib, and if stem cell research takes off, Biblical history might repeat itself. Besides, knowing we're not natives of this world makes it much easier to justify Manifest Destiny when we get around to colonizing the galaxy. Remember, the point is not what really happened, but what & how you force the people you conquer to believe.
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