Aliens have arrived!
Mysterious red cells might be aliens
By Jebediah Reed
Popular Science
Friday, June 2, 2006; Posted: 12:36 p.m. EDT (16:36 GMT)
Scientists have yet to identify these unusual red particles.
Manage Alerts What Is This? (PopSci.com) — As bizarre as it may seem, the sample jars brimming with cloudy, reddish rainwater in Godfrey Louis’s laboratory in southern India may hold, well, aliens.
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.
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.
Last winter, Louis sent some of his samples to astronomer Chandra Wickramasinghe and his colleagues at Cardiff University in Wales, who are now attempting to replicate his experiments; Wickramasinghe expects to publish his initial findings later this year.
Meanwhile, more down-to-earth theories abound. One Indian government investigation conducted in 2001 lays blame for what some have called the “blood rains” on algae.
Other theories have implicated fungal spores, red dust swept up from the Arabian peninsula, even a fine mist of blood cells produced by a meteor striking a high-flying flock of bats.
Louis and his colleagues dismiss all these theories, pointing to the fact that both algae and fungus possess DNA and that blood cells have thin walls and die quickly when exposed to water and air.
More important, they argue, blood cells don’t replicate. “We’ve already got some stunning pictures — transmission electron micrographs — of these cells sliced in the middle,” Wickramasinghe says. “We see them budding, with little daughter cells inside the big cells.”
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.
“If it’s true that life was introduced by comets four billion years ago,” the astronomer says, “one would expect that microorganisms are still injected into our environment from time to time. This could be one of those events.”
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.”
Louis and Wickramasinghe are planning further experiments to test the cells for specific carbon isotopes. If the results fall outside the norms for life on Earth, it would be powerful new evidence for Louis’s idea, of which even Louis himself remains skeptical.
New Pope fullfills Prophecy?
By Phil Stewart Thu Apr 28, 9:33 AM ET
ROME (Reuters) – Pope Benedict’s ascent to the papacy took a conclave of 115 cardinals, four rounds of voting and followed a lifetime of service to the Vatican.
But ask Internet doomsayers eyeing a 12th century Catholic prophecy and they’ll tell you it was all stitched up more than eight centuries ago and that judgment day is nigh.
The prophecy — widely dismissed by scholars as a hoax — is attributed to St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognized by members of the Church for his ability to read the future.
Benedict, believers say, fits the description of the second-to-last pope listed under the prophecy before the Last Judgment, when the bible says God separates the wicked from the righteous at the end of time.
“The Old Testament states: ‘believe his prophets and you will prosper’ — so believe it. We are close to the return of the Judge of the nations. Christ is coming,” wrote one Internet post by the Reverend Pat Reynolds.
“Thank God for the witness of St. Malachy.”
St. Malachy was said to have had a vision during a trip to Rome around 1139 of the remaining 112 Popes. The new pope would be number 111 on that list, and is described in a text attributed to St. Malachy as the “Glory of the Olive”.
To connect Benedict, a pale, bookish German, to anything olive takes some imagination. But Malachy-watchers point to the choice of the name Benedict — an allusion to the Order of Saint Benedict, a branch of which is known as the Olivetans.
“When (he) chose the name Benedict XVI, this was seen as fulfilling the prophecy for this pope,” wrote one entry on www.wikipedia.org.
Benedict said that he chose the name partly in honour of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), calling him a “courageous prophet of peace”. On Wednesday, Benedict dedicated his papacy to “the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples”.
“Perhaps Benedict XVI will be a peacemaker in the Church or in the world, and thus carry the olive branch,” speculated www.catholic-pages.com.
Another site, www.bibleprobe.com, went even further, showing a picture of Benedict holding olive branches in March during Palm Sunday celebrations.
“Is this the Pope of Peace (olive)?” it asked in the caption.
Critics widely dismiss the Malachy prophecy as a forgery and possible propaganda meant to influence a 16th century conclave. Doses of scepticism even appear on the most energetic Malachy web pages.
But believers point out similarities between the prophecy’s descriptions and past pontificates.
Pope John Paul II, number 110, was described in the prophecy as “de labore solis” — or “of the labour of the sun”.
He was born on May 18, 1920, the same day as a solar eclipse. The pontiff was buried on April 8, 2005 — the same day as a partial eclipse, visible in the Americas.
More pressing for doomsayers are the prophecy’s references to the last Pope on the list, Peter the Roman, who will lead the Church before “the formidable judge will judge his people”.
Since Benedict is already 78 years old, they say Peter the Roman must be coming soon, and with him, the end of the world.
“His reign will only last a few years at most. This signals that we are living in what may be the end of days as we know it,” said one website entry by someone calling himself SmartBob.
