Mysterious red cells might be aliens

[alicia-w]

This is creepy:

Mysterious red cells might be aliens
By Jebediah Reed
Popular Science


(PopSci.com) -- 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 degrees Fahrenheit . (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250 degrees Fahrenheit .)

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.

[vbhoutex]

Things that make you go HHHHHMMMMMM?????????

Could they turn into alien beings as they reproduce? Or are we just going to be overun by red algae? Seems to be lots of unanswered questions here to me. Of course I haven't seen the write ups on it either.

To say the least I find it very intriquing and want to know what comes of this.

[O Town]

Very interesting read Alicia. I would like to hear some follow up on this. I guess if he can prove his theory then we will all hear about it. Amazing what he has found so far.

[southerngale]

Interesting read.

[Brent]

[brunota2003]

Hmmm...very interesting...I wanna hear the end of this one...keep us updated!!!

[JonathanBelles]

hmmm any pictures?

[Regit]

hmmm any pictures?

[Janice]

Could this be one explanation....

Red blood cell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_blood_cell

They also show a picture

Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and are the vertebrate body's principal means of delivering oxygen from the lungs or gills to body tissues via the blood.

Red blood cells are also known as RBCs or erythrocytes (from Greek erythros for "red" and kytos for "hollow", with cyte nowadays translated as "cell"). A schistocyte is a red blood cell undergoing fragmentation, or a fragmented part of a red blood cell.

[Janice]

Great article, Alicia. It will be interesting to find out what this actually is. I am sure it will take many years before they can prove it. Science cannot accept it now as fact without spending a lot of time on it. It should be exciting for scientists now who are willing to work on it. Great project for science students.

[alicia-w]

i'm pretty sure a scientist knows what a red blood cell looks like, these are microbes, not red blood cells....

whatever they are, the mere mention of aliens made me think of that nasty red stuff the space ships from War of the Worlds sprayed all over everything.

{{shudder}}

[Janice]

I am sorry, you are right. The Articles said that they were red cells. The most common red cells that I am aware of are blood cells, however ,the color red is not the significant part.The fact that there may be life forms without DNA is very significant. Learning about their replacation process will pose a great challenge for future scientific research.

[GalvestonDuck]

*bangs head on keyboard*

Color me skeptical as usual....

Bacteria does not equal intelligent life.

[Janice]

Yes, this may come out to be something all together different..... That is why it will take years to come to any conclusion as what it actually is.

[x-y-no]

If this is for real, it's revolutionary.

Exciting stuff.

[Terrell]

I would like to know what this turns out to be. Would be EXTREMELY interesting should this turn out to be extraterresterial microorganisms. I also hope that they don't end up being pathogenic as us Earthlings probably wouldn't be resistant to it.

[Janice]

Yes, this is interesting. I hope they keep the article updated...

[JonathanBelles]

yes very interesting, sounds like the story line from invasion!

[Regit]

If this is for real, it's revolutionary.

Exciting stuff.

Revolutionary is right. I don't think many people realize that if these are ET organisms, it will change the way we study the universe forever. Not to mention fatten up NASA's budget.

[coriolis]

Lots of articles turned up in a google search. I couldn't find anything that seemed conclusive, though.