Red Rain

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Funboy317

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Message 342914 - Posted: 20 Jun 2006, 4:17:37 UTC

While the idea of the following article is interesting, the actual research done was quite terrible (and the conclusions were even worse). As a biologist I'm not familiar with many of the astronomy journals. Does anyone know if "Astrophysics and Space Science" is even a peer-reviewed journal?


Article

Astrophysics and Space Science
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
ISSN: 0004-640X (Paper) 1572-946X (Online)
DOI: 10.1007/s10509-005-9025-4
Issue: Online First

Original Article
The Red Rain Phenomenon of Kerala and its Possible Extraterrestrial Origin
Godfrey Louis1 and A. Santhosh Kumar1

(1) School of Pure & Applied Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, 686560, India

Received: 18 October 2005 Accepted: 4 November 2005 Published online: 4 April 2006

Abstract A red rain phenomenon occurred in Kerala, India starting from 25th July 2001, in which the rainwater appeared coloured in various localized places that are spread over a few hundred kilometers in Kerala. Maximum cases were reported during the first 10 days and isolated cases were found to occur for about 2 months. The striking red colouration of the rainwater was found to be due to the suspension of microscopic red particles having the appearance of biological cells. These particles have no similarity with usual desert dust. An estimated minimum quantity of 50,000 kg of red particles has fallen from the sky through red rain. An analysis of this strange phenomenon further shows that the conventional atmospheric transport processes like dust storms etc. cannot explain this phenomenon. The electron microscopic study of the red particles shows fine cell structure indicating their biological cell like nature. EDAX analysis shows that the major elements present in these cell like particles are carbon and oxygen. Strangely, a test for DNA using Ethidium Bromide dye fluorescence technique indicates absence of DNA in these cells. In the context of a suspected link between a meteor airburst event and the red rain, the possibility for the extraterrestrial origin of these particles from cometary fragments is discussed.




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Message 343044 - Posted: 20 Jun 2006, 7:54:20 UTC - in response to Message 342914.  
Last modified: 20 Jun 2006, 7:56:20 UTC

Firstly, I admit to knowing close to nothing about biology....


Abstract A red rain phenomenon occurred in Kerala, India starting from 25th July 2001, in which the rainwater appeared coloured in various localized places that are spread over a few hundred kilometers in Kerala.
Maximum cases were reported during the first ...10 days and isolated cases were found to occur for about.... 2 months.

Sounds too long for a "cloud of particles" to be hanging around in the normal atmosphere, and also too localised, because weather drifts from continent to continent.. so a wild guess would be a relatively close factory { 00 - 200km}that is spewing "stuff" in to the air but wont own up...



The striking red colouration of the rainwater was found to be due to the suspension of microscopic red particles having the appearance of biological cells. These particles have no similarity with usual desert dust.

output from some process..?


An estimated minimum quantity of 50,000 kg of red particles has fallen from the sky through red rain. An analysis of this strange phenomenon further shows that the conventional atmospheric transport processes like dust storms etc. cannot explain this phenomenon.

too right it cant... too long a time frame and too much material falling in a localised area


The electron microscopic study of the red particles shows fine cell structure indicating their biological cell like nature. EDAX analysis shows that the major elements present in these cell like particles are carbon and oxygen. Strangely, a test for DNA using Ethidium Bromide dye fluorescence technique indicates absence of DNA in these cells.

excuse my ignorance.. but do viruses have dna?


In the context of a suspected link between a meteor airburst event and the red rain, the possibility for the extraterrestrial origin of these particles from cometary fragments is discussed.

not likely due to timeframe/duration and pattern of localisation..

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Message 343332 - Posted: 20 Jun 2006, 13:16:47 UTC
Last modified: 20 Jun 2006, 13:28:57 UTC

I read about this somewhere else but can't remember... Scientific American? Astronomy magazine I think? According to the article it was thought in India to be extraterrestrial but the author of the article wasn't pushing that view, just reporting it.

A smallish comet disintegrating in the upper atmosphere is an almost daily occurrence and it's an interesting idea that the red particles came from one. If they held on to samples of the red rain, I don't see how it could have remained mysterious for more than a few days. It ought to have been shipped to labs all over the place for analysis. Hasn't there been any outcome since last July?
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Message 343403 - Posted: 20 Jun 2006, 14:20:32 UTC
Last modified: 20 Jun 2006, 14:22:33 UTC

It ought to have been shipped to labs all over the place for analysis.


According to a report by CNN on June 2 (http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/02/red.rain/index.html), this lab has supposedly shipped the particles to several labs in the UK. Unpublished claims by one of these new labs:

More important, they argue, blood cells don't replicate. "We've already got some stunning pictures -- transmission electron micrographs -- of these cells sliced in the middle," Wickramasinghe says. "We see them budding, with little daughter cells inside the big cells."

Based on the poor quality of the original article, I remain highly skeptical of these claims until I see published TEMs. But it does make you wonder.

excuse my ignorance.. but do viruses have dna?


Some viruses do contain DNA, others RNA. However, images of these particles show them to be approximately 4-10 um in diameter...much to large to be viral in nature. Viruses tend to be in the hundreds of nanometers in size.

Thanks for your take on the atmospheric info.
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Message 344210 - Posted: 21 Jun 2006, 8:56:20 UTC - in response to Message 343403.  
Last modified: 21 Jun 2006, 9:12:36 UTC

I just read the article


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 .)


If this stuff truely fell with rain, and it is seen to be reproducing in the lab, and it is just a sample of whats out in the wild...?????

looking at the article it was back in 2001, the food chain would have absorbed it long ago, the ground water supply will be contaminated...

!!!!!!if this is not a hoax then they better find a way to kill this stuff dam fast... the implications are off the top of the chart...

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