Fossilized
algae recently discovered inside a Sri Lankan meteorite could finally prove the
existence of extra-terrestrial life, claim the authors of the new paper.
In a
recently published article in the Journal of Cosmology titled “Fossil
Diatoms in a New Carbonaceous Meteorite”, scientists from the UK and Sri
Lanka claim to have found fossilized algae in a meteorite.
The
paper alleges that “microscopic fossilized diatoms were found in the
sample,” which fell in Sri Lanka in December last year. The finding, the
work suggests is a “strong evidence to support the theory of cometary
panspermia.” The theory argues that life across planets is spread by
meteorites and asteroids. Panspermia suggests that life could have
existed on another planet and moved to Earth.
The
scientists concluded the paper by saying “the presence of structures of
this kind in any extra-terrestrial setting could be construed as unequivocal
proof of biology.”
Samples
from the rock were collected immediately after a large meteorite disintegrated
and fell in the village of Araganwila in Sri Lanka on 29 December 2012.
The
scientific community, including Prof Francis Thackeray from the Institute of
Human Evolution at Wits University welcomed the report as “very
exciting” yet “very controversial”, as samples could have been
contaminated on earth, Business Day reports.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!