   The Andromeda Strain
CNN SciTech News.uhm... what?Though I find the idea of a flock of bats (why bats?) getting hit by a space rock to be hillarious.   
  They must be harmless to ingest seeing that the "blood rain" must have fell into watering holes used in India. Darn it! I hoping that this would be the Mutant X we all have been looking for [sad]In the article, they mention that it was able to replicate (or in life terms, reproduce). The particle is not considered a life because there's no DNA. Is there anything on Earth that does the same thing?   ;Quote:Original post by Alpha_ProgDesThey must be harmless to ingest seeing that the "blood rain" must have fell into watering holes used in India. Darn it! I hoping that this would be the Mutant X we all have been looking for [sad]In the article, they mention that it was able to replicate (or in life terms, reproduce). The particle is not considered a life because there's no DNA. Is there anything on Earth that does the same thing?Bad news   ;Quote:Original post by Alpha_ProgDesThey must be harmless to ingest seeing that the "blood rain" must have fell into watering holes used in India. Darn it! I hoping that this would be the Mutant X we all have been looking for [sad]In the article, they mention that it was able to replicate (or in life terms, reproduce). The particle is not considered a life because there's no DNA. Is there anything on Earth that does the same thing?aren't there certain amino acids that are able to create more basic amino acids, but not exact replicas of itself?   ;  This is really cool.   ;Quote:Original post by Alpha_ProgDes The particle is not considered a life because there's no DNA. Is there anything on Earth that does the same thing? Yes; Prions, the things that cause Mad Cow Disease.Also- viruses are not considered 'alive', but they have DNA (or RNA), I'm not sure what the clincher for defining life is, though (maybe independent reproduction);  War of the Worlds!!! Run for the hills!!! [grin]It's rather convenient that these samples just happened to fall on the home state of the guy that thought up "... the modern theory of panspermia, which posits that bacteria-riddled space rocks seeded life on Earth." Granted, he's looking for evidence to support his theory (when others might not be) and so would likely be the one to find it (if it's found), but find it so close to home?   ;Quote:Original post by LessBreadWar of the Worlds!!! Run for the hills!!! [grin]It's rather convenient that these samples just happened to fall on the home state of the guy that thought up "... the modern theory of panspermia, which posits that bacteria-riddled space rocks seeded life on Earth." Granted, he's looking for evidence to support his theory (when others might not be) and so would likely be the one to find it (if it's found), but find it so close to home?Because that's where he was looking? As you say, other people aren't necessarily looking for extraterrestrial microbes. For all we know, these microbes are indeed alien and have been discovered all over the place but dismissed as algae or fungus without further examination.   ;Quote:Original post by LessBreadWar of the Worlds!!! Run for the hills!!! [grin]It's rather convenient that these samples just happened to fall on the home state of the guy that thought up "... the modern theory of panspermia, which posits that bacteria-riddled space rocks seeded life on Earth." Granted, he's looking for evidence to support his theory (when others might not be) and so would likely be the one to find it (if it's found), but find it so close to home?Godfrey Louis, the guy who discovered the "red rain" in his home state in India, wasn't the guy whom "co-authored the modern theory of panspermia".  Louis sent some samples to Chandra Wickramasinghe, who appears to be from Wales.  Wickramasinghe is the guy who thought up the modern theory of panspermia.Sounds very interesting.  The rain happened in 2001 it's a shame we're only finding out about it now.  I hope we get answers a bit quicker.   ;  Chalk up the misunderstanding of authorship of the theory of panspermia to this paragraph from the article. Quote:Louis's theory holds special appeal for Wickramasinghe. A quarter of a century ago, he co-authored the modern theory of panspermia, which posits that bacteria-riddled space rocks seeded life on Earth.This sloppy pronoun usage is so typical of newspaper writers. The paragraph preceeding that one quotes Wickramasinghe, but it's syntax doesn't support the assumption that he has become a subject replaceable with a pronoun in subsequent paragraphs. Anyway. 