Cyphermage
Critical Thinker
- Joined
- May 13, 2006
- Messages
- 358
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/2c21c0f98d07b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600˚F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250˚F.) So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India. If his theory proves correct, the cells would be the first confirmed evidence of alien life and, as such, could yield tantalizing new clues to the origins of life on Earth.
Hmmm. Any ideas what the little red cells are? I'd like to know what chemicals are consumed when the cells "reproduce plentifully." It's odd that so few details are known given that this stuff fell to earth in the summer of 2001. Seems to me that there has been plenty of time to find out what they're made of, given the advanced state of analytical chemistry.
My guess is something inorganic. Perhaps even rust.
Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600˚F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250˚F.) So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India. If his theory proves correct, the cells would be the first confirmed evidence of alien life and, as such, could yield tantalizing new clues to the origins of life on Earth.
Hmmm. Any ideas what the little red cells are? I'd like to know what chemicals are consumed when the cells "reproduce plentifully." It's odd that so few details are known given that this stuff fell to earth in the summer of 2001. Seems to me that there has been plenty of time to find out what they're made of, given the advanced state of analytical chemistry.
My guess is something inorganic. Perhaps even rust.
