Dr Richard Hoover, a NASA astrobiologist has caused a stir claiming to have found evidence of life in meteorites that fell to Earth. Hoover says that he has found microscopic fossils in three of the oldest space rocks in the solar system. This paper can be found in the Journal of Cosmology.
I'd be quite surprised to look in a microscope and see these life forms fossilized on a meteorite. Source: Journal of Cosmology
In the past Dr. Hoover, of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, has made similar claims in 2007. Critics claimed the bacteria-like fossils were contamination introduced after the meteorite landed. In the latest research paper, Dr. Hoover states he has found his evidence in freshly sliced fragments from meteorites which have not been affected by any contaminants. Hoover states:
Dr. Hoover's assertion is that he has found microfossils similar to Cyanobacteria, in freshly broken pieces of the Alais, Ivuna, and Orgueil CI1 meteorites. These meteorites are from a type called carbonaceous chondrites and are thought to be fragments from the asteroid belt that orbits our sun. He has concluded that the fossils are the remains of living organisms that lived int he meteorites' parent bodies. He concludes that this shows that life is out there and that possibly a similar meteorite or comet could possibly be what brought life to Earth.
Dr. Hoover said: "Although many of the bacteria resemble and can be associated with generic species on Earth, there are others which are completely alien. Neither I, nor other experts who have seen the evidence, have any idea what these creatures might be."
My take? It's plausible that these bacteria are from space. It's also quite possible that the meteorite was contaminated after impact. I would personally like to see this reviewed by other biologists to help confirm or disprove his findings. The editors for the journal in which this paper is published know how controversial this claim is, so they have asked for 100 expert scientists to review the work and critique it. These reviews have not been published yet, but should be available online in a few days.
Don't get your hopes up until there is a confirmation on this claim. We've been down this road before only for the previous claim to be shot down. Skepticism is needed with a claim such as this, but you can't deny how interesting it is, and how much we hope to find some sort of life somewhere out there that isn't from Earth.
I'd be quite surprised to look in a microscope and see these life forms fossilized on a meteorite. Source: Journal of Cosmology
In the past Dr. Hoover, of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, has made similar claims in 2007. Critics claimed the bacteria-like fossils were contamination introduced after the meteorite landed. In the latest research paper, Dr. Hoover states he has found his evidence in freshly sliced fragments from meteorites which have not been affected by any contaminants. Hoover states:
Many of the filaments shown in the figures are clearly embedded in the meteorite rock matrix. Consequently, it is concluded that the Orgueil filaments cannot logically be interpreted as representing filamentous cyanobacteria that invaded the meteorite after its arrival. They are therefore interpreted as the indigenous remains of microfossils that were present in the meteorite rock matrix when the meteorite entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
Dr. Hoover's assertion is that he has found microfossils similar to Cyanobacteria, in freshly broken pieces of the Alais, Ivuna, and Orgueil CI1 meteorites. These meteorites are from a type called carbonaceous chondrites and are thought to be fragments from the asteroid belt that orbits our sun. He has concluded that the fossils are the remains of living organisms that lived int he meteorites' parent bodies. He concludes that this shows that life is out there and that possibly a similar meteorite or comet could possibly be what brought life to Earth.
Dr. Hoover said: "Although many of the bacteria resemble and can be associated with generic species on Earth, there are others which are completely alien. Neither I, nor other experts who have seen the evidence, have any idea what these creatures might be."
My take? It's plausible that these bacteria are from space. It's also quite possible that the meteorite was contaminated after impact. I would personally like to see this reviewed by other biologists to help confirm or disprove his findings. The editors for the journal in which this paper is published know how controversial this claim is, so they have asked for 100 expert scientists to review the work and critique it. These reviews have not been published yet, but should be available online in a few days.
Don't get your hopes up until there is a confirmation on this claim. We've been down this road before only for the previous claim to be shot down. Skepticism is needed with a claim such as this, but you can't deny how interesting it is, and how much we hope to find some sort of life somewhere out there that isn't from Earth.
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I hope so for your sake!
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