We are not alone in the universe, says NASA astrobiologist Dr. Richard B. Hoover. He explains that travelling to Antarctica, Siberia and Alaska he has studied an extremely rare form of meteorites - CI1 carbonaceous chondrites - of which only nine are known to exist on earth.
He published his conclusions yesterday in the Journal of Cosmology, and one can only describe his findings as very, very interesting.
This discovery, if confirmed, would strongly support one theory of how exactly life on Earth got started in the first place.This theory, called panspermia, involves life jumping from one planet to another by hitching a ride on a meteorite.
While some scientists are excited by the finds, others say more evidence is needed that we have found alien life.
Dr Hoover would collect each meteorite stones and break them in laboratory conditions, scanning for fossilised remains. It was then he made his discovery, identifying one biological remain as having no nitrogen -- something that, until now, is found in all living organisms. "If someone can explain how it is possible to have a biological remain that has no nitrogen, or nitrogen below the detect ability limits that I have, in a time period as short as 150 years, then I would be very interested in hearing that.
"I've talked with many scientists about this and no one has been able to explain," he said.
This discovery, if confirmed, would strongly support one theory of how exactly life on Earth got started in the first place.This theory, called panspermia, involves life jumping from one planet to another by hitching a ride on a meteorite.
While some scientists are excited by the finds, others say more evidence is needed that we have found alien life.
Dr Hoover would collect each meteorite stones and break them in laboratory conditions, scanning for fossilised remains. It was then he made his discovery, identifying one biological remain as having no nitrogen -- something that, until now, is found in all living organisms. "If someone can explain how it is possible to have a biological remain that has no nitrogen, or nitrogen below the detect ability limits that I have, in a time period as short as 150 years, then I would be very interested in hearing that.
"I've talked with many scientists about this and no one has been able to explain," he said.
