Telmo: would you have (by any chance...) a brief identification of something that comes to your mind when speaking about " l i f e " ? (And please, forget about the"bio" of this Earthbound Terrestrial Biosphere). (To identify " live " is a bit easier I think.)
John M On Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 8:46 AM, Telmo Menezes <[email protected]>wrote: > Unfortunately this appears to be bs: > > http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/09/20/136220/alien-life-story-of-dubious-provenance-goes-viral > > (but what do I know!) > > Best, > Telmo. > > > On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 11:53 PM, Chris de Morsella > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Seems like the Pangea hypothesis might have gotten some evidence... > wouldn't > > say this is conclusive though, but it is intriguing. > > -Chris > > > > Scientists claim discovery of life coming to Earth from space > > Scientists from the University of Sheffield believe they have found life > > arriving to Earth from space after sending a balloon to the > stratosphere.’ > > After it landed, scientists discovered that they had captured a diatom > > fragment and some unusual biological entities from the stratosphere, all > of > > which are too large to have come from Earth. > > Other scientists disagree, as noted here: New Alien Life Claim Far from > > Convincing, Scientists Say > > The team, led by Professor (Hon. Cardiff and Buckingham Universities) > Milton > > Wainwright, from the University’s Department of Molecular Biology and > > Biotechnology found small organisms that could have come from space after > > sending a specially designed balloon to 27km into the stratosphere during > > the recent Perseid meteor shower. > > Professor Wainwright said: “Most people will assume that these biological > > particles must have just drifted up to the stratosphere from Earth, but > it > > is generally accepted that a particle of the size found cannot be lifted > > from Earth to heights of, for example, 27km. The only known exception is > by > > a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of > > the sampling trip. > > “In the absence of a mechanism by which large particles like these can be > > transported to the stratosphere we can only conclude that the biological > > entities originated from space. Our conclusion then is that life is > > continually arriving to Earth from space, life is not restricted to this > > planet and it almost certainly did not originate here.” > > Professor Wainwright said the results could be revolutionary: “If life > does > > continue to arrive from space then we have to completely change our view > of > > biology and evolution,” he added. “New textbooks will have to be > written!” > > Professor Wainwright said stringent precautions had been taken against > the > > possibility of contamination during sampling and processing, and said the > > group was confident that the biological organisms could only have come > from > > the stratosphere. > > The group’s findings have been published in the Journal of Cosmology > (open > > access) and updated versions will appear in the same journal, a new > version > > of which will be published in the near future. Professor Chandra > > Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham, University Center for Astrobiology (of > > which Professor Wainwright is an Honorary Fellow) also gave a > presentation > > of the group’s findings at a meeting of astronomers and astrobiologists > in > > San Diego last month. > > Professor Wainwright added: “Of course it will be argued that there must > be > > an, as yet, unknown mechanism for transferring large particles from > Earth to > > the high stratosphere, but we stand by our conclusions. The absolutely > > crucial experiment will come when we do what is called ‘isotope > > fractionation’. We will take some of the samples which we have isolated > from > > the stratosphere and introduce them into a complex machine – a button > will > > be pressed. If the ratio of certain isotopes gives one number then our > > organisms are from Earth, if it gives another, then they are from space. > The > > tension will obviously be almost impossible to live with!” > > The research was conducted by Professor (Hon. Cardiff and Buckingham > > Universities) Milton Wainwright from the University of Sheffield, Chris > Rose > > and Alex Baker from the University of Sheffield’s Leonardo Centre for > > Tribology and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe Director of the Centre for > > Astrobiology, University of Buckingham. > > > http://www.kurzweilai.net/scientists-claim-discovery-of-life-coming-to-earth-from-space?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=60630eb1c2-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-60630eb1c2-281942553 > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Everything List" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > email to [email protected]. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
