[PatrickHenry]

Bold font added by your humble poster. Everybody be nice. Remember, we are all citizens of the "biodisc."

[PatrickHenry]

PING. [This ping list is for the evolution side of evolution threads, and sometimes for other science topics. FReepmail me to be added or dropped.]

[Seruzawa]

Unless it's life from somewhere else that settled here.

[VadeRetro]

Although some of this outflowing material might become sterilised by heat and radiation, they believe that a significant fraction would survive.

I think here's the crux. We obviously exchange some matter with interstellar space. Whether anything could survive the pulverizing impacts, the radiation, the long times involved, etc. is another question.

[American_Centurion]

Here is a list of stars within 50 light years of us.

I don't expect that during the millions of years there has been life on earth, especially considering that during at least half of that time the "bio-disc" would have only expanded to reach the 26 nearest stars that we would have passed near enough within the period of life to "infect 10,000 million" systems.

[Sabertooth]

Bold font added by your humble poster. Everybody be nice. Remember, we are all citizens of the "biodisc."

Try it this way:

"If planets capable of sustaining life are sufficiently common in the Galaxy, the Cardiff based scientists conclude that this mechanism could have infected over 10,000 million of them during the lifetime of our Galaxy."

Now, try this:

"At the rate we're finding If planets capable of sustaining life are sufficiently common in the Galaxy, the Cardiff based scientists conclude ...."

"10,000 million" of them is as scientific a statement as the fold-ins on the back cover of a Mad Magazine.

[Verginius Rufus]

This is all George W. Bush's fault for tossing out the Kyoto Protocols.

They claim that some meteorites found in Antarctica came from Mars, so this latest claim doesn't sound all that far-fetched.

[Gefreiter]

Great article, but it leaves me wondering who Jesse Jackson can sue over the lack of biodiversity in the galaxy.

[DManA]

Sometimes science answers questions, but you'd never know it from what passes as science reporting.

[Semper Paratus]

Maybe Comets brought life to Earth instead.

[LibWhacker]

Professor Napier finds that collisions with interplanetary dust will quickly erode the ejected boulders to much smaller fragments . . .

Why is the asteroid belt still there then? I think panspermia is highly likely, but there seems to be something wrong with this part of the theory.

[Lady Composer]

Very interesting reading!

[Physicist]

Well, the idea is testable. The atmosphere of Jupiter surely contains some climates capable of supporting some Earth organisms. Those regions should be literally rotten with Earth bacteria by now. Once we find them, we should be able to determine how long ago they branched off.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Grut]

Svante Arrenhius, please call the office!

[RightWhale]

Certainly this seems possible. Whether the virus or whatever form the life takes as it drifts through interstellar space with or without comets would then find a good home that is just right so it can then evolve into intelligent forms seems near impossible. Yes, there is life everywhere; no, intelligent life exists only here. So say Ward and Brownlee and their view of the matter seems sound.

[edwin hubble]

This theory could be tested by the presence or absence of life-molecules on Mars.

The nearest Petrie dish.

[LRS]

I shudder to think of the life forms spread by Comets..

[Condor51]

"panspermia theory"

Hey, weren't they part of the Superbowl Halftime show?

(just kidding. I know they were canceled)
kidding again :-)

[SunkenCiv]

Note: This topic is from 2004.