British scientists say there is extraterrestrial life in our atmosphere
Scientists from the University of Sheffield (UK) have found a series of microorganisms in the stratosphere that, in their opinion, cannot come from Earth, but from outer space
The discovery, published in the Journal of Cosmology , was obtained after analyzing the data obtained by a balloon sent to the stratosphere, at a height of 27 kilometers.
The balloon, designed by Chris Rose and Alex Baker of the Leonard Center for Tribiology at the University of Sheffield, was fitted with countless tiny filaments that were unwound and exposed into space at 22 kilometers high.
Upon completion of its mission, it landed safely and intact near the town of Wakefield.
The scientists, led by Professor Milton Wainwright of the University’s Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, found that the captured organisms could not have come from the surface.
Specifically, they were fragments of diatoms and other biological entities, all too large, according to scientists, to have made it there from Earth.
Both during sample collection and analysis, Wainwright explained that his team took extreme precautions to avoid the possibility of contamination.
Anyway, they plan to perform a re-sampling in October, coinciding with the meteor shower associated with Halley ‘s comet
Are you sure they don’t come from Earth?
“Most people will argue that these biological particles must, by necessity, have traveled into the Earth’s stratosphere, but it is known that a particle the size of those found cannot rise from Earth to heights, say, of 27 kilometers ».
“The one exception might be due to a violent volcanic eruption (pushing these particles upward), but nothing like that happened in the three years we collected samples ,” explains Wainwright.
The expert adds that “in the absence of a mechanism capable of explaining how these particles can be transported from here to the stratosphere, the only thing that can be done is to conclude that these biological entities originated in space”.
For all these reasons, he concludes that “life is continually arriving on Earth from space, it is not restricted to our planet and it is practically certain that it did not originate here” , an idea, the latter, which is supported by more and more scientists.
According to Wainwright, “if life continues to arrive continuously from space, the view on biology and evolution must be completely changed. Textbooks will have to be completely rewritten” , he predicts.
