Mysterious red cells might be aliens

CNN ^ | June 2, 2006 | Jebediah Reed

[RWR8189]

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.

[From many - one.]

My first had Eric Frank Russell's "...And then There Were None" (My first introduction to little "l" libertarianism, with which I am tainted to this day.

[From many - one.]

Thanks for the link.

From the story:
"Cluck" reported the cosmic ray counter, "cluck-brrrp-cluck."

I remember laughing at that one line and re-reading it just for the fun of it.

Also the pseudo-lib dialog about how maybe a snarl-like expression isn't a snarl. (pseudo-lib because liberal is a hijacked word like gay).

I have another 12 hour workday coming up so I won't be answering for a bit.

[ASA Vet]

no one ever said anything about Red Men

John Carter would disagree.

[taxed2death]

Maybe Ed Dames was off a few years... maybe this is the "killer plant pathogen" he RV'd a few years back.


hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[NicknamedBob]

"Eric Frank Russell's "...And then There Were None""

http://www.abelard.org/e-f-russell.htm


I didn't read that when it first came out, but I encountered it later. I remember being amused and affected also.

I still think a thing worth doing is worth doing well, and that machines should last for as long as they can be made to last.

[Colorado Doug]

I hate to point this out, but they look very much like ordinary red blood cells

Do a DNA test. Maybe we got Osama with one of those Moabs after all.

[Colorado Doug]

Darn it. You beat me to it.

[NicknamedBob]

"Do a DNA test."

From the article -- "... dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce ..."

So, no DNA, no DNA test. I'm inclined to believe they are some kind of crystalline growth, but I will await better analysis.

[null and void]

*ouch*

[null and void]

And probably the date in the story.

So much for my obscure reference to when the Mayan calender ends....

[null and void]

I started reading Analog when it was in the large format.

A little before my time. When I saw my first large format Analog, I thought "Astounding!"

[MHGinTN]

If memory serves, there are mitochondria which lack DNA but are capable of reproducing. I can't remember which organism has this particular mitochondria, perhaps a spore producing mold.

[null and void]

IIRC, mitochondria have their own separate DNA code. Not the same coding scheme used in the rest of the cell.

Some have cited this as evidence that mitochondria aren't actually part of the cell, but are a symbiotic organism, from way back in time.

[MHGinTN]

Mitochondria appear to be descended from bacteria and they function as energy factories for cells. This particular organism has mitochondria which lack DNA. I'll see if I can find the name of the organism for you.

[MHGinTN]

Found this at wikipedia: "A few organisms, such as Cryptosporidium, actually have mitochondria which lack any DNA, presumably because all their genes have either been lost or transferred."

[NicknamedBob]

I just finished re-reading "And Then There Were None."

I am realizing that I have conflated some of the story line with another tale. Not surprising, considering how long it's been.

But it was a good quick read today, and I still recommend it -- for those who dare to taste the concept of freedom.

[From many - one.]

Not an obscure reference, un-alert reader. :-)

[null and void]

I am realizing that I have conflated some of the story line with another tale

The Great Explosion, I bet...

[null and void]

Un-alert? Perhaps just over focused?

[bannie]

I'm not sure if valley fever spores really are red, but I wanted to throw my spores into the mix.

:-)