KOCHI: The study of the red rain phenomenon experienced in Kerala can revolutionise the research into the extraterrestrial life forms. The “blood rain microbes” detected in the red rain experienced in 2001 had “cometic as well as biological” origin, an independent group of astrophysicists have confirmed.
The Kochi-based scientist Godfrey Louis, Cusat Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and his team had found the cometic and biological origin of the blood rain microbes during their study of the samples of the red rain in Kerala.
A paper presented at the recently concluded conference of the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) in San Diego stated that the red cells found in the rain survive and grow after incubation for periods up to two hours at 121 degrees centigrade. “This is an independent confirmation of the results reported earlier by two of the present authors (Louis and Kumar, 2003) claiming that cells can replicate under high temperature.” The findings that the red rain contained cells of cometary origin had triggered a lot of controversies when Louis submitted them in 2003.
However, he continued to submit his study’s further results in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
“Their findings have supported what we have been saying that these cells found in the red rain multiply not in normal but in very high temperature.
Their fluorescence behaviour is similar to that found in the extended red emission observed in the Red Rectangle planetary nebula and other galactic and extra-galactic dust clouds,” Louis says.
The possibilities being addressed by the group of scientists, including Godfrey Louis, are that life on earth could have extraterrestrial origin.
These cells could be the first living organisms before they evolved with the DNA as the basic form in a cell.
Yet another paper, which also made references to Louis’ study, was by three America-based astro-scientists Carl H Gibson, N Chandra Wickramasinghe and Rudolp E Schid who put across the theory that the biological Big Bang on earth could be from the galaxies and not from oceans.
“We could culture the cells at high temperatures. The mother cell grew and reproduced by bursting into several daughter cells each of which is an independent being,” said Louis who also presented a paper at the meet.
Red rains have been reported in Kerala, Vietnam and Columbia. But not many have bothered to research it. “It is often written off as pollutiondriven,’’ says Louis.