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Are we alone in space?
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Fanatical Offline
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Are we alone in space?
I don't know where else to put the science articles, but I found this to be very interesting.

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/2c2...drcrd.html

Is It Raining Aliens?
Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001. Now the race is on to figure out what the heck they are

By Jebediah Reed | June 2006


Courtesy Dr. Godfrey Louis

E.T. Under the Microscope: Scientists have yet to identify the unusual particles [above, magnified 500 times] isolated from India?s mysterious red rainwater.

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˚F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250˚F.) 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. ?I would be most happy to accept a simpler explanation,? he says, ?but I cannot find any."









There is not enough evidence to claim anything to be proven, but its all very exciting.
07-05-2006 11:13 AM
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Tulsaman Offline
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it would be highly illogical and stupid to think we are the only form of intelligent life in the universe. the question that therefore must be raised is why would intelligent life come here. ;-)
07-05-2006 11:49 AM
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Ninerfan1 Offline
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Post: #3
 
Tulsaman Wrote:it would be highly illogical and stupid to think we are the only form of intelligent life in the universe.

Why? There is exactly zero evidence to suggest otherwise.
07-05-2006 12:02 PM
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GrayBeard Offline
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I saw the movie Signs, and I am pretty sure that was based on a true event. Oh, and don't forget The War of the Worlds, the original and not the Tom Cruise one. I am sure that really happened as well.
07-05-2006 12:10 PM
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Bourgeois_Rage Away
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Quote:Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001.

Could it be the FSM?
07-05-2006 12:56 PM
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GrayBeard Offline
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Post: #6
 
Bourgeois_Rage Wrote:
Quote:Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001.

Could it be the FSM?

For some reason, I just don't find that funny.
07-05-2006 01:20 PM
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flyingswoosh Offline
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GrayBeard Wrote:
Bourgeois_Rage Wrote:
Quote:Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001.

Could it be the FSM?

For some reason, I just don't find that funny.

i'm slightly amazed someone actually took time out of their day to write up that whole thing.
07-05-2006 01:24 PM
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eaglewing505 Offline
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Ninerfan1 Wrote:
Tulsaman Wrote:it would be highly illogical and stupid to think we are the only form of intelligent life in the universe.

Why? There is exactly zero evidence to suggest otherwise.

Humans lack the technology to confidently claim either. In the coming decades, maybe centuries, we will find the answers. For now, it's quite ignorant for someone to say that they know for sure that intelligent life does or does not exist elsewhere in the universe.
07-08-2006 08:16 PM
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niuhuskie84 Offline
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Post: #9
 
In the words of the great Carl Sagan:

"If we are alone in the Universe, it sure seems like an awful waste of space."

"For most of human history we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Who are we? What are we? We find that we inhabit an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions, and by the depth of our answers."

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there ? on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Now take it a step further: Imagine that everything was made just for a single shade of that species, or gender, or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn't strike you as unlikely, pick another dot. Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They, too, cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How seriously do you take their claim?"

[Image: pale_blue_dot.jpg]
07-08-2006 08:34 PM
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Ninerfan1 Offline
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Post: #10
 
eaglewing505 Wrote:
Ninerfan1 Wrote:
Tulsaman Wrote:it would be highly illogical and stupid to think we are the only form of intelligent life in the universe.

Why? There is exactly zero evidence to suggest otherwise.

Humans lack the technology to confidently claim either. In the coming decades, maybe centuries, we will find the answers. For now, it's quite ignorant for someone to say that they know for sure that intelligent life does or does not exist elsewhere in the universe.

That was basically my point.
07-08-2006 10:37 PM
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Endzone2 Offline
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So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

You can't believe the story of Noah's Ark, but you can believe there is life on other planets?
07-08-2006 11:51 PM
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eaglewing505 Offline
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Endzone2 Wrote:So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

There's no mention of the North and South American continents in the Bible either. No real mention of Native Americans. The same question would apply to those people also. There's no easy answer to that question, unless you're comfortable condemning people.
07-09-2006 01:24 AM
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RobertN Offline
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Endzone2 Wrote:So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

You can't believe the story of Noah's Ark, but you can believe there is life on other planets?

05-nono Bad move Endzone. Posting something questioning Christianity on a board with a majority southern Christians, you are just asking to get ripped on. Good luck.
07-09-2006 03:29 AM
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Endzone2 Offline
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eaglewing505 Wrote:
Endzone2 Wrote:So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

There's no mention of the North and South American continents in the Bible either. No real mention of Native Americans. The same question would apply to those people also. There's no easy answer to that question, unless you're comfortable condemning people.

Of course there is. It's in John 3:16. "For God so loved THE WORLD that..."

Now if it had said, "For God so loved THE UNIVERSE that..." I would say Jesus died for the people on the planet Zargon--if there really are people there. Or else you have to believe the people on the planet Zargon are perfect and don't need a savior.

The Bible starts with these words:

Quote:In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Now, if it had started like this, I would believe there is life on other planets:

Quote:In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the planet Zargon. And the earth and the planet zargon were without form....

But it doesn't. There is no significance to any other planet in the universe except the one we are currently living on.
07-09-2006 12:33 PM
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ccs178 Offline
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Endzone2 Wrote:
eaglewing505 Wrote:
Endzone2 Wrote:So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

There's no mention of the North and South American continents in the Bible either. No real mention of Native Americans. The same question would apply to those people also. There's no easy answer to that question, unless you're comfortable condemning people.

Of course there is. It's in John 3:16. "For God so loved THE WORLD that..."

Now if it had said, "For God so loved THE UNIVERSE that..." I would say Jesus died for the people on the planet Zargon--if there really are people there. Or else you have to believe the people on the planet Zargon are perfect and don't need a savior.

The Bible starts with these words:

Quote:In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Now, if it had started like this, I would believe there is life on other planets:

Quote:In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the planet Zargon. And the earth and the planet zargon were without form....

But it doesn't. There is no significance to any other planet in the universe except the one we are currently living on.

The Bible is God's plan for HUMANITY. It neither admits nor denies that life exists anywhere else because it is immaterial. God wants Humanity to be worried about Humanity.
07-09-2006 05:01 PM
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dwr0109 Offline
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Post: #16
 
Quote:So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

You can't believe the story of Noah's Ark, but you can believe there is life on other planets?

So does that mean that Noah, Moses, and everybody that came before Jesus is in hell right now? How were they supposed to hear the good news and be saved if Jesus wasn't even born yet?
07-09-2006 11:21 PM
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I45owl Offline
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Re: Are we alone in space?
Fanatical Wrote:I don't know where else to put the science articles, but I found this to be very interesting.

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/2c2...drcrd.html

Is It Raining Aliens?
Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001. Now the race is on to figure out what the heck they are

You should be careful asking those kinds of questions. 01-lauramac2
07-10-2006 06:31 AM
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Ninerfan1 Offline
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Post: #18
 
Quote:So does that mean that Noah, Moses, and everybody that came before Jesus is in hell right now? How were they supposed to hear the good news and be saved if Jesus wasn't even born yet?

No. The bible says that those before Jesus who followed God had faith in the promise of God (Jesus) and it was credited to them as righteousness.

If you're truly interested read Hebrews chapter 11. It lays it all out.
07-10-2006 07:14 AM
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ShoreBuc Offline
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Are we alone in space????
Here is a simple formula to answer your question.

http://www.astro-tom.com/technical_data/alien_life.htm
07-10-2006 04:42 PM
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Endzone2 Offline
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Post: #20
 
ccs178 Wrote:
Endzone2 Wrote:
eaglewing505 Wrote:
Endzone2 Wrote:So did Jesus die to save them too? Did Jesus die to save the people on the planet Zargon? There is no mention of any other life in the Bible. I mean absolutely none whatsoever. If people can't hear the good news of the gospel, how can they be saved? If there are other beings like us on other planets are they all going to hell?

There's no mention of the North and South American continents in the Bible either. No real mention of Native Americans. The same question would apply to those people also. There's no easy answer to that question, unless you're comfortable condemning people.

Of course there is. It's in John 3:16. "For God so loved THE WORLD that..."

Now if it had said, "For God so loved THE UNIVERSE that..." I would say Jesus died for the people on the planet Zargon--if there really are people there. Or else you have to believe the people on the planet Zargon are perfect and don't need a savior.

The Bible starts with these words:

Quote:In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Now, if it had started like this, I would believe there is life on other planets:

Quote:In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the planet Zargon. And the earth and the planet zargon were without form....

But it doesn't. There is no significance to any other planet in the universe except the one we are currently living on.

The Bible is God's plan for HUMANITY. It neither admits nor denies that life exists anywhere else because it is immaterial. God wants Humanity to be worried about Humanity.

That may be true. But when you consider that the Son of God was in perfect harmony and joy and peace with the Father, that He willingly left his place in heaven, came to Earth and lived a sinless life, and then died a horrible death and rose again to redeam all humanity, it seems unlikely that would be repeated anywhere in the universe which makes planet Earth very unique indeed. Since we know God always creates beings with free will (the fallen angels had complete free will) that means beings on other planets would have free will and that they also would sin--at least some of them would. That means they need a savior, and as I say I just can't imagine the process of Jesus life, death and ressurection would be repeated elsewhere in the universe. I think it was a one-time event. I think there is something very special about planet Earth that is not repeated anywhere in the universe or anywhere near it--if there is any kind of life anywhere else in the universe.
07-10-2006 06:52 PM
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