Comments on: A red rain's a-gonna fall...

A red rain's a-gonna fall...

saulgoodman — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:20:23 -0800

The latest on the so-called "Red Rain of Kerala." The authors of this study suggest the mysterious red biological material provides evidence of Panspermia. The BBC offers this updated look at the topic. (Previously discussed here on MeFi.)

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:57:53 -0800

Red Rain in Kerala. The "official" finding is it is algae pulled up from the ocean.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:26:43 -0800

Um... wow. That's pretty interesting. Isn't it pretty easy to find out if there's DNA? Just run a polymerase chain reaction and see if it replicates? And algae has DNA, doesn't it? It's single-celled life...

By: saulgoodman

saulgoodman — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:30:54 -0800

zoogleplex: Yeah, you'd think. I found this tidbit in the wikipedia article that stbalbach cited interesting. A sample of the rain was also sent to Cardiff University for analysis by noted panspermia proponent Chandra Wickramasinghe. Wickramasinghe has reported that "work in progress has yeilded [sic] positive for DNA". Hope the guy's better at sequencing amino acids than spelling.

By: ernie

ernie — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:44:14 -0800

[this is good] I don't go for any of that sasquatch or UFO stuff, but panspermia via extremophiles is my favorite fringe theory!

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:54:58 -0800

Heh yeah. Although, just sending a sample of the rain might get you a positive DNA from anywhere on earth, if you just test the raw sample. Lots of other organisms in the atmosphere. You'd have to isolate out the spores in a sterile solution before doing any testing, right?

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:08:17 -0800

So how can I get some?

By: dhartung

dhartung — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:21:16 -0800

Panspermia = Earth bukkake?

By: Alex404

Alex404 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:06:53 -0800

Wow. Has there ever been a phenomenon more terribly named then panspermia?

By: taursir

taursir — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:06:59 -0800

Isn't it pretty easy to find out if there's DNA? Just run a polymerase chain reaction and see if it replicates? Don't think they didn't try to at least indirectly test for it. They ran a test to stain the cell nucleus, but that didn't receive conclusive results that point to these cells having compact nuclei like terrestrial cells. In some cases, the stain didn't even get past the outer layers of the cells. Read the whole paper for their detailed procedure. Here's a tantalizing quote from the last paragraph: "As further supporting work we have investigated the growth conditions and the reproduction techniques of the red rain extremophiles. We will be reporting immediately the extraordinary results of this study in another paper."

By: hattifattener

hattifattener — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:10:07 -0800

Reminds me of the (possibly related, if the red rain isn't actually Space Bukkake) recent discovery about the Bodélé depression's dust contributions (previously on mefi).

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:17:28 -0800

As further supporting work we have investigated the growth conditions and the reproduction techniques of the red rain extremophiles. We will be reporting immediately the extraordinary results of this study in another paper.

By: taursir

taursir — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 20:17:13 -0800

Someone better post that other paper when it comes out!

By: flaterik

flaterik — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:49:27 -0800

This is clearly the first stage of being Chtorraformed.

By: Anything

Anything — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 08:44:09 -0800

This paper reports the extraordinary biology of the microorganisms from the mysterious red rain of Kerala, India. These chemosynthetic organisms grow optimally at an extreme high temperature of 300 degrees C in hydrothermal conditions and can metabolize inorganic and organic compounds including hydrocarbons. Stages found in their life cycle show reproduction by a special multiple fission process and the red cells found in the red rain are identified as the resting spores of these microbes. While these extreme hyperthermophiles contain proteins, our study shows the absence of DNA in these organisms, indicating a new primitive domain of life with alternate thermostable genetics. This new biology proves our earlier hypothesis that these microbes are of extraterrestrial origin and also supports our earlier argument that the mysterious red rain of Kerala is due to the cometary delivery of the red spores into the stratosphere above Kerala. Sound very interesting. But... saying "This new biology proves our earlier hypothesis" seems a bit odd. Doesn't real science rather use language like "provides strong evidence for"?

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 23:23:59 -0800

Hmmm... aren't the phrases "extreme hyperthermophiles" and "lives on comets" kind of incongruous? Isn't this flagrant contravention of Occam's Razor? What about when it rains frogs? Sheesh, if you guys would just read the Bible more you would know about these things. </kidding, just kidding.>