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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 06/02/2006 :  13:31:40  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
I remember hearing about this red rain phenomenon and not thinking much of it, but the subject has just gotten a helluva lot more interesting.
quote:
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 .)
Can you say Holy Moley?


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie

Edited by - H. Humbert on 06/02/2006 13:38:04

HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 06/02/2006 :  14:09:40   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message
Thank you for the fascinating article links, H.H.!

My impression is that it's all going to come down to the detailed analysis of the samples, and the repeatability of the original work. I'll wait with skeptical interest before crying, "Panspermia!"


Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
Edited by - HalfMooner on 06/02/2006 14:10:21
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 06/02/2006 :  15:28:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message
I made a post on it a few months back.

I'm curious to find out where that 250F came from. It wasn't in the original paper.

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov
Edited by - Ricky on 06/02/2006 15:28:28
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 06/05/2006 :  13:03:26   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
We discussed this at length on the BAUT forum, Red Rain: Extraterrestrial Microbes? Ian Goddard had very thorough follow up he discussed there actually emailing people involved.
Edited by - beskeptigal on 06/05/2006 13:04:17
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 06/05/2006 :  15:03:27   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message
So, is it the consensus opinion here that there is as yet no evidence of extraterrestrial, or even organic, origin of this red material?


Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 06/07/2006 :  03:41:53   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
As far as the red rain in India, it's terrestrial. The big question was how did the author get the paper accepted into a science journal.
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 06/07/2006 :  06:31:12   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

As far as the red rain in India, it's terrestrial. The big question was how did the author get the paper accepted into a science journal.

And that may remain one of those forever unsolved Fortean mysteries.


Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
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