Because Aliens

[pErvinalia]

Scientists in the U.K. have examined a tiny metal circular object, and are suggesting it might be a micro-organism deliberately sent by extraterrestrials to create life on Earth.

Don't be fooled by the size of the object in the microscopic image above. It may appear to look like a planet-sized globe, but in fact, it's no bigger than the width of a human hair.

The University of Buckingham reports that the minuscule metal globe was discovered by astrobiologist Milton Wainwright and a team of researchers who examined dust and minute matter gathered by a high-flying balloon in Earth's stratosphere.

"It is a ball about the width of a human hair, which has filamentous life on the outside and a gooey biological material oozing from its centre," Wainwright said, according to Express.co.uk.

"One theory is it was sent to Earth by some unknown civilization in order to continue seeding the planet with life," Wainwright hypothesizes.

.......

Wainwright and his team launched balloons nearly 17 miles into Earth's stratosphere, and when they examined the material collected by one of the balloons (like the one pictured below), they discovered a small crash mark which indicated to them that the microscopic, circular object didn't simply land softly.

"On hitting the stratosphere sampler, the sphere made an impact crater, a minute version of the huge impact crater on Earth caused by the asteroid said to have killed off the dinosaurs," Wainwright said.

Even with this more recent discovery of a tiny globe found lodged into a high-flying balloon, the alien space seed proponents know they have a long way to go before that can be proven and accepted by the scientific community.

"Unless, of course, we can find details of the civilization that is supposed to have sent it in this respect, it is probably an unprovable theory," Wainwright conceded.

Time -- and space -- will tell.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/ ... =australia

[Svartalf]

I expected that kind of shit more from Breitbart than from HuffPo

[pErvinalia]

Well the research team are making the claim, not HuffPo. Have you seen the picture? It's a perfect sphere. The first question to ask, is can our technology make a hollow sphere of that size? I've got no idea.

Edit: Although, I just looked up the university page and this was from January last year. I assume that means its possible to make such a thing with our technology, therefore alien hypothesis has been dropped.

[Svartalf]

HuffPo chose what to report, and they published a patent absurdity worthy of News of the World... "scientists" who believe in woo (or just get genuinely puzzled) are one thing, publishing stuff that is cretinous, even though superficially impressive is another.

[pErvinalia]

The university page states that the alien hypothesis was the first hypothesis the scientists chose. Do you have some specific reason why it must be absurd?

[Rum]

It might not be absurd but the only 'evidence' that is provided is that they don't know how they could have been produced. Leaping to the alien solution is more or less the same as leaping to the god solution because we don't know loads of stuff about the universe.

[cronus]

It might not be absurd but the only 'evidence' that is provided is that they don't know how they could have been produced. Leaping to the alien solution is more or less the same as leaping to the god solution because we don't know loads of stuff about the universe.

Yeah, but God is less likely to rely on anything technical let alone small balls, and Hawkins wants to send small wafers to the stars so we have evidence that small sized objects are the way to travel long distances already....but odds on its some remnant of a man made space object that got burnt up on re-entry. You know how heat can fry and fly things made of metal....into weird shapes and directions, and spheres are popular in zero g environments.

[Svartalf]

The university page states that the alien hypothesis was the first hypothesis the scientists chose. Do you have some specific reason why it must be absurd?

lack of serious evidence, and a slight application of Occam's razor. Sure there might be an element to be added for proper cause, but starting with something as outlandish and unproven as alien intervention is properly ludicrous.

it's one thing to say "shit, this thing looks like it was made by aliens", and presenting alien as a real hypothesis.

[Hermit]

It might not be absurd but the only 'evidence' that is provided is that they don't know how they could have been produced. Leaping to the alien solution is more or less the same as leaping to the god solution because we don't know loads of stuff about the universe.

Exactly.

[pErvinalia]

The university page states that the alien hypothesis was the first hypothesis the scientists chose. Do you have some specific reason why it must be absurd?

lack of serious evidence, and a slight application of Occam's razor. Sure there might be an element to be added for proper cause, but starting with something as outlandish and unproven as alien intervention is properly ludicrous.

it's one thing to say "shit, this thing looks like it was made by aliens", and presenting alien as a real hypothesis.

I don't think it's ludicrous. If there was no way with current technology to make such a thing, then what's your hypothesis going to be? Crumple's seems just as ludicrous as it isn't a sphere, it's a hollow sphere, and it has biological life on/in it while floating around in the utterly harsh stratosphere.

[rainbow]

a gooey biological material oozing from its centre

Alien snot?

Now maybe as scientists, they could borrow a GC-Mass Spec, and actually describe it better.

[pErvinalia]

Yeah, it's pitifully explained.

[cronus]

Titanium dioxide paint, often found on the outside of rockets, mixed with molten rubber often found inside solid rocket boosters produces a persistent spongy material. Easily mistaken as biological in origin.

[pErvinalia]

But does it ooze...?

[mistermack]

Meteorites burn up at an altitude of about fifty miles, or often more.
Unless they are big enough to survive, which this is not. So if the aliens were sending microscopic missiles they wouldn't get through.
I like the idea that it's debris from a space-shot.
And there could have been a spider on the collector. They get everywhere.
Perhaps the debris hit poor incy wincy.