Abstract
A series of astronomical observations obtained over the period 1986 to 2018 supports the idea that life is a cosmic rather than a purely terrestrial or planetary phenomenon. These include (1) the detection of biologically relevant molecules in interstellar clouds and in comets, (2) mid-infrared spectra of inter-stellar grains and the dust from comets, (3) a diverse set of data from comets including the Rosetta mission showing consistency with biology and (4) the frequency of Earth-like or habitable planets in the Galaxy. We argue that the conjunction of all the available data suggests the operation of cometary biology and interstellar panspermia rather than the much weaker hypothesis of comets being only the source of the chemical building blocks of life. We conclude with specific predictions on the properties expected of extra-terrestrial life if it is discovered on Enceladus, Europa or beyond. A radically different
biochemistry elsewhere can be considered as a falsification of the theory of interstellar panspermia.
Category Archives: Impact on Human Consciousness
2017-7-1 : Sky At Night Asks “Did Life Come From Space” – Again after 40 years
It was 11 October 1978, 40 years ago next year, that Patrick Moore interviewed Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe on the hypothesis that “Life is a Cosmic Phenomenon”.
Since that time experiment after experiment, have accumulated evidence consistent with the hypothesis; and today in 2017, Panspermia remains the “best” model for life in space.
Truly mainstream science is on a 40 year scientific journey – a “Convergence to Panspermia” .
2017-6-24 : To Confirm “Life on MARS” Do We Need to Put Men On Mars?
O’ the irony!
Having already spread billions of dessicated viruses and bacteria on the surface of Mars and most other local bodies, over so many missions, we now announced that:
“We may need to put men on Mars before we can really rule out life on the Red Planet once and for all”.
So man arrives on the surface of a planet or moon not as a single human entity – but as a biosystem of billions of cells, the majority of which are not human BUT viruses and bacteria.
But we will have little idea which are ours and so came with us versus which were already on Mars or Europa. Quite a quandary.
In 2017, we have only identified 10,000 viruses against millions of virus types that might exist even on earth. Everywhere we apply the latest virus detection hardware and software we discover breakthrough virus types.
We need to accept that “Life IS a Cosmic Phenomenon”.
Once we accept microbes are everywhere, on every body in the solar system (and maybe galaxy) we can openly start looking for more intelligent beings. More intelligent than we humans that is.
2016-10-26 : MUMBAI hosts astrobiology conference on life in space
India’s first Astrobiology Conference Life in Space – was organised in the city of MUMBAI by the Indian Astrobiology Research Centre and IARC Centre for United Nations in collaboration with Nehru Science Centre.
The conference was a huge success attended by Astrobiology students from across India.
Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe from Churchill College, Cambridge University, UK delivered the first Arthur C Clarke memorial lecture, based on his four decades long quest for extraterrestrial life.
In particular his lecture reviewed his lifelong efforts to test the Panspermia Theory. In 2016 this remains the most likely hypothesis for the spreading of life across the galaxy.
As humans review the wonderful data from the recent ESA visit to Comet 67P, and as we prepare to visit Mars and moons of Jupiter and Saturn, evidence converges to Panspermia as still the most likely explanation on the spread of viruses, bacteria, algae etc across the Milky Way.
The theory of panspermia hypothesizes that life did not originate on Earth but was delivered to Earth from some other part of the galaxy or even from another part of the universe.
On this occasion, a new fund called, “Chandra Wickramasinghe Fund for Panspermia Research” was announced. This fund will encourage astrobiology research amongst students in India.
Aug 6, 2015 : New Scientist : Discoveries that would transform what it means to be human
I am happy to be able to report the rapid acceptance of Panspermia into academia. A new generation of astrobiologists have embraced panspermia especially as it relates to the solar system.
Well worth scanning is this 1-page PDF from last Friday’s New Scientist. New Scientist – 2015-8-8
Dr. Chris McKay, Astrobiologist at NASA AMES gives animated explanation of panspermia.
As we visit short period comets like 67/P, the Rosetta Mission catches glimpses of the “seeds of life” without having a complete set of experiments on board.
The good news : as we have predicted, the complex molecules found are consistent with Panspermia.
We await MIDAS results from the Rosetta Orbiter, by PI Mark Bentley. Even though he is seeing particles down at the virus size level, he is being conservative (encouraged by his peers) calling the specks “Dust”.
If only ESA scientists would “dare to dream”, and announce the “dust” is consistent with the theory of Panspermia. Consistent with the proposal that viruses and bacteria are carried by Comets like 67P. Let’s face it, accepting the existence of microbes in short period comets is not too far a leap from accepting the interchange of microbes between planets. 67P is on a short 7 year orbit. Not much more mysterious than an asteroid.
We are not asking for misrepresentations nor inaccurate statements BUT the facts are that these specks on MIDAS do seem to be consistent with viral and bacterial clumps. If they are not microbial clumps and 67P has no microbes, then this really would be worthy of a paper.
Long Period Comets
But what if these were inter-stellar comets?
The Panspermia debate now switches to long period comets with orbits over 100,000 years. Last year ISON was such a comet. Most think these comets are elliptical and come in from the Oort Cloud. But with orbits sometimes over 100,000 years there is some possibility that many are parabolic and even Inter-stellar.
But what if these inter-stellar comets contain, and regularly bring to Earth, new types of viruses, bacteria or nano-microbes (as yet unidentified nano- and picoeukaryotes) that are part of the Milky Way biopool but new to the Earth?
It is possible to hypothesize that the galaxy is homogenized and that inter-stellar comets will contain the same galactic strain of microbes. This is the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe Model and the basis of our calculations in a recent paper.
Because of the age of the galaxy and the probable evolution of microbes on bodies across the galaxy, the long period comets can be expected to be carrying microbes new to the defence systems of animals and plants on Earth even though they are part of the same galactic biopool.
In the future, an RNA/DNA sample taken from an advancing long period comet, might well be used to identify the star source and so the catalog of microbes contained within.
2014-9-20 : United Nations Event – IGNORING LIFE FROM SPACE EVIDENCE COULD THREATEN HUMAN SURVIVAL
At a UN-sponsored Symposium on the “Space Science and the United Nations” held in Graz Austria from 22-24 September 2014, I presented a paper entitled “The transition from Earth-centred biology to cosmic life” with co-authors Gensuke Tokoro and Milton Wainwright. The paper, now published in Journal of Cosmology (JoC, 24, 12080-12096) argues that a paradigm shift with potentially profound implications for humanity has been taking place over the past 3 decades and is on the verge of acceptance.
In an accompanying second paper (JoC, 24, 12097-12101) the same authors show that the recent discovery by radio astronomers of isopropyl cyanide in interstellar clouds adds to earlier discoveries in astronomy that have indicated the widespread occurrence of even more complex organics that can be interpreted as the break up products of living cells when they are exposed to conditions of space.
We argue in these two papers the new data is not consistent with the reigning dogma in science that life emerged from inorganic chemicals on the Earth. Life, including a capacity to evolve into the magnificent spectacle we see around us, requires a system infinitely bigger and much older than our truly insignificant planet Earth. A large fraction of the matter in the entire universe and enormous spans were needed generate the all-encompassing “blue print” of life. We argue that every living species on the Earth, including Homo sapiens. is the result of the assembly of cosmologically derived viral genes. Evidence for this point of view has grown to a stage that it can no longer be ignored by the scientific community.
Accepting our cosmic origins, and the evidence for a continuing ingress of alien viruses may be important for our very survival. We point out that new viruses capable of threatening Man’s very existence could arrive from space, and it will thus be prudent to monitor the stratosphere on a regular basis. Moreover, from an acceptance of our cosmic connection we need to understand that we must live in harmony with the Earth and its ever-changing biosphere if we are to coexist with it.
Chandra Wickramasinghe
PS List of participants of the UN meeting includes the newly appointed acting NASA chief scientist Dr. Gale Allen. Hopefully Dr. Allan will now start working to change the highly negative attitude of NASA toward discoveries of extraterrestrial life and the implications for mankind and space sciences. The issue that needs to be addressed is that the existence of extraterrestrial life falsifies LCDMHC cosmology, where life anywhere is hopelessly improbable and certainly not homogenized on cosmic scales as indicated by the evidence.
(Reference: http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC24/UNOPDF.pdf)
Contacts: Professor N.C. Wickramasinghe, ncwick@gmail.com, +44 7778389243
Professor G. Tokoro, tokoroar@icloud.com
Professor M. Wainwright, M.Wainwright@sheffield.ac.uk
Professor Rudy Schild (Editor in Chief, JoC), rschild@cfa.harvard.edu
