Fossils of Cyanobacteria in CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites
Richard B. Hoover, Ph.D. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
The synopsis:
Synopsis
Dr. Hoover has discovered evidence of microfossils similar to Cyanobacteria, in freshly fractured slices of the interior surfaces of the Alais, Ivuna, and Orgueil CI1 carbonaceous meteorites. Based on Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and other measures, Dr. Hoover has concluded they are indigenous to these meteors and are similar to trichomic cyanobacteria and other trichomic prokaryotes such as filamentous sulfur bacteria. He concludes these fossilized bacteria are not Earthly contaminants but are the fossilized remains of living organisms which lived in the parent bodies of these meteors, e.g. comets, moons, and other astral bodies. The implications are that life is everywhere, and that life on Earth may have come from other planets.
I read the paper and the work is very solid. It is now accepted that Earth received most of it's water from heavy comet/meteorite bombardment, is it a stretch to think early life forms hitched a ride as well? Fascinating stuff here, enjoy and give it some thought.
Added:
Most respected scientists think the paper is pure baloney:
Did Scientists Discover Bacteria in Meteorites?Harsh!
o.
No, no, no. No no no no no no no no.
No, no.
No.
Fox News broke the story, which ought to make one immediately suspicious — it's not an organization noted for scientific acumen. But even worse, the paper claiming the discovery of bacteria fossils in carbonaceous chondrites was published in … the Journal of Cosmology. I've mentioned Cosmology before — it isn't a real science journal at all, but is the ginned-up website of a small group of crank academics obsessed with the idea of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe that life originated in outer space and simply rained down on Earth. It doesn't exist in print, consists entirely of a crude and ugly website that looks like it was sucked through a wormhole from the 1990s, and publishes lots of empty noise with no substantial editorial restraint. For a while, it seemed to be entirely the domain of a crackpot named Rhawn Joseph who called himself the emeritus professor of something mysteriously called the Brain Research Laboratory, based in the general neighborhood of Northern California (seriously, that was the address: "Northern California"), and self-published all of his pseudo-scientific "publications" on this web site.
Have a good night.
I don't think it's a stretch at all. And in fact, this has been my own theory for going on two decades now. Not only did life on this planet almost definitely come from space, but I have a good feeling that this is how most planets with life out there got started.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the science is getting closer and closer to proving this. What a great paper that was -- thanks for linking to it!
David,
ReplyDeleteI agree. Thi does not mean there is intelligent life out ther (I would argue humans are not that smart anyway) but certainly life is out there. I am excited about the paper but imagine the pushback and criticism will be huge.
Oh, please, guys, this is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIf life can originate in space, why can't life originate on Earth?
It's a simple question. The larger question is, how can life survive on a meteor flying through space?
There's no food, water, or air, so metabolism is impossible. Moreover, cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms. How are they supposed to live without sunlight?
The whole idea is preposterous.
Life exists wherever it is possible for life to exist. And life originates wherever it is possible for life to originate. But life only survives where it is possible for life to survive.
A meteor flying through space is not one of those places.
I disagree Gawains. Water bears can and do survive in space and live again back on earth. Bacteria that can form spores can certainly survive inside a meteor as it travels through space. Extremophiles abound here on earth that live through almost anything. I think it is quite probable.
ReplyDeleteOh, and what is it with these "scientists" who insist life must have come from outer space?
ReplyDeleteAnyone else besides me remember Chariots of the Gods? It was a popular book when I was in high school; it was even made into a movie.
There's this scene where this "scientist" is crawling through a dark tunnel in a pyramid, and he comes across a hieroglypic. It looks like a light bulb. This is absolute proof that space aliens brought technology to Earth.
You know what it really was? A hot air balloon. Yeah, that's how the Egyptians mapped out their cities, in hot air balloons.
What's next, crop circles as messages from outer space? Please. They're flattened wheat made by a couple of guys who had nothing better to do after beer and cheese doodles on their way home from work. And they did it with some rope and a plank of wood.
Space aliens, flying saucers, messages from outer space, life on meteors, get real.
Geez Gawains, I would have thought you a bit more open minded on this. I am not saying it is 100% fact, but the data suggests it to be very possible. I thought the Nazca Lines were for alien visitors, lol.
ReplyDeleteSpores are one thing. Same as seeds. They've unearthed seeds buried in pyramids for thousands of years, planted them, and they grew.
ReplyDeleteA living being is something else entirely. By definition, and remember my first degree was in biology, a living being, metabolizes energy, grows, develops, and reproduces. In order to do that, it must have some form of food, water and air.
None of that exists in space or on a meteor. Therefore, life cannot exist there.
It's very simple really. Life exists where life can exist--it does not exist where it cannot.
And flying saucers, intergalatic space travel, are you kidding me? The volume of food, water and air required to sustain life for such a period of time would be so large that the spacecraft would have to be the size of a planet. I mean, really, what are you going to do? Pull over at the nearest moon and buy food, water and air at the 7-11? Please.
I am shocked--shocked!--that most people don't grasp this simple reality.