Saturday, February 6, 2010

My Theory

All humans are 'aliens from outer space', scientist claims.

From The Telegraph, we are told, "Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe, of Cardiff University, said new research "overwhelmingly" supported the view that human life started from outside our Earth." The research and evidence are not presented. He simply asserts the same thing over and over. Bleah.
The professor and his late colleague Sir Fred Hoyle championed the so-called "panspermia" theory from the 1960s.

"Evidence from astronomy overwhelmingly supports the view that life did not start on Earth but was seeded from outside," Prof Wickramasinghe said.
So yeah, it's panspermia theory all over. Hoyle did some important work, but, how to put this kindly, became somewhat detached from reality later in his career. Furthermore panspermia implies that all life on earth- not just human life- is descended from a cosmic ancestor, which renders the idea of "alien" sort of moot. It does nothing to change our understanding of the evolution of life on earth. It says nothing about the origin of life in terms of mechanism or location... other than somehow the good professor has decided that some undisclosed evidence "overwhelmingly" shows that it wasn't on Earth. In short, it's a theory that predicts and explains nothing. As theories go, this one is sort of lacking in the utility department.

Sure, it's a cool idea, but science isn't (or shouldn't) be about simply coming up with cool ideas. Picture me dubious. It put in the mind of this classic clip...

And also this one, from TYWKIWDBI earlier this week. You'll need to pay close attention to understand how meaty this mini-lecture is.

The problem with the news media and "journalists" these days is that they seem to feel obligated to take everyone equally seriously, regardless of whether they're obviously clowns or not.

1 comment:

Anirudh Kumar Satsangi said...

According to His Holiness Maharaj Sahab (1861-1907), the third Revered Spiritual Head of Radhasoami Faith has described in His book ‘Discourses on Radhasoami Faith’ “that the source of spirit is the true Supreme Being. Whatever forms we find in creation have received their impress from the infinite form first manifested by the Supreme Being, as form is nothing but the arrangement into which energy resolves anything, and the prime energy emanated from the Supreme Being”. I am convinced that this prime energy is Gravitation Force.
Maharaj Sahab further writes in this book, “that the solar systems are travelling in space round Brahamand, and that the Brahmand, too, is making a similar revolution round the spiritual region. During the course of these revolutions, the earth and the solar systems often come near such creations which possess fauna (including man) and flora differing to some extent from our own fauna and flora. The conjunction of the above description often leads to some affinity between the subtler portion of our system and of those of the creations we have approached. Many new forms of life are often manifested on our earth, and their remains are often dug up as fossils of the species not to be found on this earth.
It is now an established fact that seeds of life i.e. DNA, biological cells spread on planets through comets. Panspermia Theory is a confirmed fact. Life spreads in the universe through comets. Dr. Louis, Dr. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (renowned astrophysicist) and other scientists are working in this area. Professor Nalin Chandra Vikramsinghe, Director, Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, London is also helping in this work.