Alien life found living in Earth's atmosphere, claims scientist

[knocker]

I didn't realise David Icke had relocated.

 

Aliens do exist and have been found living in the clouds above the Peak District, according to new claims by scientists.

 

Researchers from the University of Sheffield and Buckingham University claim to have found evidence for microscopic organisms living 16 miles up in the atmosphere between Chester and Wakefield.

 

The scientists used a specially designed balloon to gather samples in the stratosphere during the recent Perseid meteor shower.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10321227/Alien-life-found-living-in-Earths-atmosphere-claims-scientist.html

Edited September 19, 2013 by knocker

[Crepuscular Ray]

That looks like a deflated balloon...

[Polar Maritime]

We always seem to attract the tourists..

[Bobby]

Sounds fishy to me. Apparently the 'Journal of Cosmology' not a real scientific journal at all but some pseudoscientific magazine thing.

 

http://journalofcosmology.com/

 

Looks like something from the mind of David Icke.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Cosmology

Edited September 19, 2013 by Bobby

[mike Meehan]

I'd go and have a look but damn it I haven't got my anorak anymore.

[Methuselah]

I'm not entirely convinced...

[Snowkissed]

Why are we surprised at this article?

I am guessing the people who find this most shocking are those who believe that we live in isolation on this blue planet of ours and we are not affected by anything in the universe. I wonder how many more years it will take for us to really understand that everything influences us and vice a versa. We are all connected - well I am

[Yarmy]

Reading that article, one surefire way of a particle of that size to find its way into the Stratosphere would be if it hitched a ride on a "specially designed balloon".

Edited September 20, 2013 by Yarmy

[Methuselah]

Why are we surprised at this article?

I am guessing the people who find this most shocking are those who believe that we live in isolation on this blue planet of ours and we are not affected by anything in the universe. I wonder how many more years it will take for us to really understand that everything influences us and vice a versa. We are all connected - well I am

I'm with you there, Snowkissed. Despite the lack of any direct evidence - I do believe that ozone has been detected in the atmospheres of more than one distant planet - the very notion of a Universe containing no life, save for us, seems absurd...Given that the same laws of physics and chemistry apply everywhere in the known Universe... 

[UV-RAY]

I'm with you there, Snowkissed. Despite the lack of any direct evidence - I do believe that ozone has been detected in the atmospheres of more than one distant planet - the very notion of a Universe containing no life, save for us, seems absurd...Given that the same laws of physics and chemistry apply everywhere in the known Universe... 

Lol, when as direct evidence ever got in the way of a good scientific story, I'll get my coat!

[Bobby]

In assuming there is life elsewhere in the universe remember we are only working from a sample of one. You can't extrapolate anything from a sample of one. Also we don't know the physical process that resulted in the formation of life. Nobody knows exactly how life occured, nobody has ever replicated it. It's still one of the greatest of all mysteries. So we cannot assume that life exists elsewhere neither can we assume that it doesn't. We just don't have enough infomation to make any judgement on the matter one way or the other. What we do know is that Earth is the only place in the universe is proven to have life.

 

I get the feeling that much of the assumption that life is abundant in the universe is based more on wishful thinking than anything to do with actual science. Science is about hard evidence isn't it and there isn't any is there? Most people want life to be out there and they seem to let that influence their thinking on the matter, even scientists which is dissapointing. The possibility that we are alone isn't even considered even though there is nothing to suggest otherwise at this point from a logical and scientific standpoint.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Bobby

[mushymanrob]

In assuming there is life elsewhere in the universe remember we are only working from a sample of one. You can't extrapolate anything from a sample of one. Also we don't know the physical process that resulted in the formation of life. Nobody knows exactly how life occured, nobody has ever replicated it. It's still one of the greatest of all mysteries. So we cannot assume that life exists elsewhere neither can we assume that it doesn't. We just don't have enough infomation to make any judgement on the matter one way or the other. What we do know is that Earth is the only place in the universe is proven to have life.

 

I get the feeling that much of the assumption that life is abundant in the universe is based more on wishful thinking than anything to do with actual science. Science is about hard evidence isn't it and there isn't any is there? Most people want life to be out there and they seem to let that influence their thinking on the matter, even scientists which is dissapointing. The possibility that we are alone isn't even considered even though there is nothing to suggest otherwise at this point from a logical and scientific standpoint.

 

erm... scientists HAVE 'created life'... in a laboritory back in the 70's they had a chamber and replicated condition on earth millions of years ago. they found that they did form single celled algae (or bacteria in cant remember).. after that evolution is a clear possibility.

 

science is about hard evidence, but its also about theory and the laws of probability. and the laws os probability, or the theory of probability, would suggest that the chances of us being alone are very remote, given the infinite possibilities in this huge universe....plus time... of course it suits those with a religious belief to hope we are alone, that would add to their indoctrination. finding life elsewhere would deliver a blow to those creationists.

[swebby]

erm... scientists HAVE 'created life'... in a laboritory back in the 70's they had a chamber and replicated condition on earth millions of years ago. they found that they did form single celled algae (or bacteria in cant remember).. after that evolution is a clear possibility.

 

 

 

I'm not so sure about this mushy,

I think the experiment you are referring to, simulated the proposed conditions that would be found on the early earth and demonstrated that the creation of some of the more complex organic molecules required for life is possible. The creation of these molecules has also been demonstrated for conditions that are expected to be found on other astronomical bodies i.e comets, asteroids etc.

As far as I know, the nearest we've come to creating actual life, is the implantation of synthetic DNA into host cells that were then shown to be viable (living). 

However, I fully agree with your 2nd paragraph.

[Methuselah]

erm... scientists HAVE 'created life'... in a laboritory back in the 70's they had a chamber and replicated condition on earth millions of years ago. they found that they did form single celled algae (or bacteria in cant remember).. after that evolution is a clear possibility.

 

Don't think they ever have, mushy...There was the famous Miller Experiment (back in Fifties) which led to amino acids etc...

 

They might, however, have stitched man-made DNA bases together into an artificial genome; though I'm not absolutely sure about that?? But, anyway, inserting an artificial genome into a man-made cell wall, and creating a life-form capable of self-replication, doesn't seem to be a priori insurmountable. The time will come, I am sure-ish... 

[Methuselah]

Not exactly what this topic is about, just maybe of interest?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSKAccC_mOQ