Re: Evidence for panspermia theory

It seems to me (though maybe I've misunderstood the theory) that panspermia
is a cop-out in much the same way that Intelligent Design is a cop out.
With ID you give an example of an organism that is deemed too complex to
have evolved by itself and say "a Designer must have made that one", which
is tantamount to giving up on the scientific search for mechanisms. But
surely the same applies to panspermia - we can't figure out how life started
up on earth so we say it came from outer space. But this explains precisely
nothing, because it must have started up somewhere. What the theory does is
push the problem back further in time and to an entirely different place
that we can't experiment with. So again (it seems to me) it's giving up on
the science.

Perhaps panspermia makes more sense in Fred Hoyle's steady state universe
that had existed for an infinite time in the past & hence something as
improbable of life could have come about at some point. But in a Big Bang
universe we only have 14bn years to play with, indeed only 10bn years for
the original alien life form to have got going. And the fundamental
question of the origin of life remains unanswered.

Iain

On 3/7/06, drsyme@cablespeed.com <drsyme@cablespeed.com> wrote:
>
> Which is why panspermia is being considered as a serious
> scientific endeavor. I am not at all advocating
> panspermia. But one has to admit it would be an important
> discovery if extra terrestrial life was found.
>
> For someone earlier that asked. Hoyle was one of the
> first to talk about panspermia in its modern version. He
> advocated this along with his steady state universe, and
> believed that life has always been part of the universe,
> just like the universe has always been.
>
> Crick's version of panspermia is called "directed
> panspermia". Since the universe is so vast it is unlikely
> that life, even if it formed elsewhere, would be able to
> find a environmentally friendly planet like earth to seed,
> without the intervention of some intelligent agent. In
> other words advanced alien beings seeded earth with life.
>
> On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 12:35:33 -0600
> "Bundrick, David" <BundrickD@evangel.edu> wrote:
> > "When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to
> >those following
> > him, 'I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
> >Israel with such
> > great faith'" (Matt. 8:10). It certainly takes
> >astonishing faith to
> > believe the panspermia theory!
> >
> >
> >
> > As an astronomer friend of mine has said, "One of the
> >reasons that
> > Anthony Flew rejected atheism a few years ago was
> >because of the total
> > failure of numerous scientists around the world to
> >create life
> > spontaneously in a laboratory, under the most ideal
> >conditions. This
> > quest, which has gone on for 24 hours each day for more
> >than 50 years,
> > has produced nothing. Flew was honest enough to see the
> >handwriting on
> > the wall. But, such a conclusion is simply too repugnant
> >for the
> > naturalist, because it necessitates a creator."
> >
> >
> >
> > David Bundrick
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> >From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu
> >[mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
> > Behalf Of Janice Matchett
> > Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 5:17 PM
> > To: drsyme@cablespeed.com; asa@calvin.edu
> > Subject: Re: Evidence for panspermia theory
> >
> >
> >
> > At 02:56 PM 3/6/2006, drsyme@cablespeed.com wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Wow have any of you heard of this? Comments?
> >
> > http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Education&F=1&id=8530
> > Red rain may prove life came from outer space
> > 6/3/2006
> >
> >
> >
> > ## Comments? Yeah - here are some. ~ Janice
> >
> > Red rain could prove that aliens have landed
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/focus/f-news/1590375/posts>
> > Guardian Unlimited ^ | Mar 5, 2006 Posted by Hadean
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/~hadean/>
> > On News/Activism
> ><http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/focus/f-news/browse>
> > 03/05/2006 11:26:40 AM EST * 71 replies
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/focus/f-news/1590375/posts#comment?q=
> > 1> * 1,560+ views
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1590375/posts
> >
> > Some comments:
> >
> > "Not everyone is convinced by the idea, of course.
> >Indeed most
> > researchers think it is highly dubious. One scientist
> >who posted a
> > message on Louis's website described it as 'bullshit' "
> >
> > Ahhh, those scientists. Always throwing around that
> >technical jargon.
> > # 7
> ><http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1590375/posts?page=7#7>
> >
> > Right off the top I suspect that a serious scientist
> >would be asking why
> > the "rain" didn't fall over much wider areas of the
> >globe. After all if
> > it came from space over a period of months it just
> >stands to reason that
> > it would have appeared in far distant locations. # 8
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1590375/posts?page=8#8>
> >
> > [click above link to read article]
> >
> > *
> >
> > Red rain in India may consist out of alien lifeforms?
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/focus/f-chat/1590858/posts>
> > The Observer ^ | Sunday March 5, 2006 | Amelia Gentleman
> >and Robin McKie
> >
> > Posted by S0122017
> ><http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/~s0122017/> On
> > General/Chat
> ><http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/focus/f-chat/browse>
> > 03/06/2006 9:59:40 AM EST * 61 replies
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/focus/f-chat/1590858/posts#comment?q=
> > 1> * 384+ views
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1590858/posts
> >
> > Some comments:
> >
> > Strange how something that "came from space" over a
> >period of months
> > only fell in India. LOL # 3
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1590858/posts?page=3#3>
> >
> > All the really neat stuff that happens in Weekly World
> >News always seems
> > to happen in remote parts of India or Bangladesh or
> >deepest Africa as
> > well.
> >
> > I wonder why all of those really amazing things always
> >happen in such
> > obscure places? ;-) # 11
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1590858/posts?page=11#11>
> >
> > related topics: keyword:
> >http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=panspermia>
> > panspermia
> >
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=panspermia>
> >Microorganism
> > Isolated In Space
> > ScienceDaily News | 12/18/2002 | Cardiff University's
> >School of
> > Biosciences, et al
> > Posted on 12/18/2002 9:27:43 AM EST by forsnax5
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/808563/posts
> >
> > Some Scientists Think SARS May Have Come from Outer
> >Space
> > LONDON (Reuters) | May 22, 2003 | Patricia Reaney
> > Posted on 05/22/2003 8:47:54 PM EDT by TaxRelief
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/916280/posts
> >
> > Some Scientists Think SARS May Have Come from Outer
> >Space
> > Reuters | Thu May 22, 2003 07:10 PM ET | Patricia Reaney
> > Posted on 05/23/2003 4:13:52 PM EDT by anymouse
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/916749/posts
> >
> > Comets spread Earth-life around galaxy, say scientists
> > Cardiff University | 10 February 2004 | Staff
> > Posted on 02/12/2004 9:30:56 AM EST by PatrickHenry
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1076665/posts
> >
> > Are There Aliens Already on Earth?
> > Astrobiology Magazine | 02/20/06
> > Posted on 02/20/2006 8:28:16 PM EST by KevinDavis
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582456/posts
> >
> > Did Life Drip Down From Earth's Ancient Atmosphere
> > Source: spacedaily.com
> > Published: 17 oct 00 Author: STAFF
> > Posted on 10/25/2000 12:21:10 PDT by RightWhale
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39f732a6231b.htm
> >
> > Scientists report 'alien' life
> > Source: UPI
> > Published: Wednesday, 22 November 2000 10:19 (ET)
> > Posted on 11/22/2000 08:08:05 PST by Free the USA
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a1bef65169c.htm
> >
> > All Aboard the Meteor Express of Life
> > Source: spacedaily.com
> > Published: 17 Mar 01 Author: Jeff Hecht
> > Posted on 03/17/2001 15:22:24 PST by RightWhale
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ab3f1b012f3.htm
> >
> > [warming] Cometary impacts and ice-ages
> > Source: Astrophysics and Space Science
> > Published: April 2001 (275: 367-376) Author: Sir Fred
> >Hoyle and Chandra
> > Wickramasinghe
> > Posted on 04/07/2001 21:47:15 PDT by Steve Schulin
> > http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3acfed532bff.htm
> >
> >
> > 19
> ><http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1590858/posts?page=19#19>
> > posted on 03/06/2006 10:32:47 AM EST by SunkenCiv
> > <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1590858/~sunkenciv/>
> >
> >
> > [snip] Click above link to read article.
> >
> >
>
>

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- Italian Proverb
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