Mysterious red cells might be aliens Maybe they were

[alfredo]

what started life on earth in the first place. I'd love to see the outcome of the research being done on these cells.


http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/02/red.rain/index.html


In April, Louis, a solid-state physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University, published a paper in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Astrophysics and Space Science in which he hypothesizes that the samples -- water taken from the mysterious blood-colored showers that fell sporadically across Louis's home state of Kerala in the summer of 2001 -- contain microbes from outer space.

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 degrees Fahrenheit . (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250 degrees Fahrenheit .)

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.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

1. OMG, Tom Cruise was right all along

Just kidding.

[alfredo]

3. Oh, the thought of him pawing

around on that pretty Katie Holmes hurts. What a waste.

Cruise just shows that our mental health system needs some reform.

[havocmom]

5. Why fret about him pawing at his beard?

;)

[alfredo]

8. ???

[havocmom]

14. Beard is term used to indicate that affectation which lends credibility

and often to dissuade speculation as to one's orientation.

Everything I know I learned from my brother, the South Park fan ;)

[alfredo]

15. Doing a Rock Hudson!

[havocmom]

18. By jove, he's got it!

;)

[alfredo]

22. "My Fair Auntie"? Mr Higgins?

[redqueen]

2. Wow thanks!

I remember reading about the red rain a while back... thanks for posting this!

[alfredo]

4. For as long as I can remember scientist have tried to find a

terrestrial origin of life. Maybe those dirty snowballs that seeded the earth with water, brought the first life.

[KittyWampus]

10. this really is interesting

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Thanks and this will be the begining of a cirisis of

faith for some, if this is proven. I will also contend that when we find evidience of SENTIENT life it will be fun

[lectrobyte]

12. Yeah, what if the red rain was just to seed the planet, and we're

some sort of snack food for ET's who forgot about this particular cheetos farm...

[DixieBlue]

13. You've been living in my nightmares

haven't you?

I used to have all these wild dreams about ET's farming humans.

Maybe it's all the scifi I read as a kid.

[lectrobyte]

23. It's the "To Serve Man" Twilight Zone ep that did it for me. Also

spending much time on a farm, too.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. Yeah, I am waiting for the day of "First contact" myself. I am sure they

are around but, if you were them, would have anything to do with us? :shrug:

[tocqueville]

7. "may lack DNA ?" so very difficult to check...

you need a solvent, an acid and a centrifuge. Try dish detergent, vinegar and a mixer. It's enough to extract DNA from easy accessible cells in fish or even internal organs from mammals...

read further

The next significant step, explains University of Sheffield microbiologist Milton Wainwright, who is part of another British team now studying Louis's samples, is to confirm whether the cells truly lack DNA. So far, one preliminary DNA test has come back positive.

"Life as we know it must contain DNA, or it's not life," he says. "But even if this organism proves to be an anomaly, the absence of DNA wouldn't necessarily mean it's extraterrestrial."

[alfredo]

11. Even if it is terrestrial, it could be a yet unnamed

organism. That in itself is exciting, but not as exciting as finding proof of interstellar life.

We'll just have to wait and see.

[tocqueville]

17. I just state ironically that the astrophyscisist guy should let

molecular biologists do their job first. I they find out that the "thing" is extraterrestrial, then the astrophysicist can speculate on the origins...

[alfredo]

24. We all like life affirming stories. We want it to be.

[benburch]

9. Red Rum!

Red Rum!

[alfredo]

16. Is that anything like spiced rum?

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Pshaw, silly. Everybody knows there's nothing up there but Angels.

And Jesus... and gran'ma... and God who doesn't want you to touch yourself or have sex before marriage an' stuff.

[giant_robot]

21. Finding a strange, unidentified microbe is pretty cool,

but claiming its origin is extraterrestrial is too great a leap without further evidence.