Seeded from space
BRITISH scientists have produced photographs, magnified many times over, of tiny bugs they brought back from high in the Earth's atmosphere, on the fringes of outer space. The microbes were collected by a balloon sent up 27km last month during the Perseid meteor shower.
The scientists, from Sheffield University, say these bugs come from outer space. There is no way they could have got there from earth – short of a truly massive volcanic eruption, which there wasn't – and every precaution was taken against the balloon's becoming contaminated in any way as it took off.
This is exciting because it means we might have to rethink current theories of evolution. Discovery of the bugs makes it possible that life on earth was seeded from outer space. The theory has been floated before but this would appear to back it up.
To quote Professor Milton Wainwright, who led the team: "We can only conclude that the biological entities originated from space. Our conclusion then is that life is continually arriving on Earth from space. Life is not restricted to this planet and it almost certainly did not originate here."
"If life does continue to arrive from space then we have to completely change our view of biology and evolution. New textbooks will have to be written."
Wow! Is this for real? Examination of the photographs reveals that the bugs are rather disgusting in appearance. Two of them have a proboscis, or elongated snout. Another you can see at a glance is microscopically flabby.
One's instinctive initial feeling is that these tiny bugs must have been discovered in the comb of one of the denizens of the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties.
But as you stare at them, the penny drops. Elongated snouts. Flabbiness. Eureka! These are proto-politicians in search of the galactic feeding trough!
This is stupendous. Politicians are seeded from space. Theories of evolution, biology and politics can never be the same again.
Terrifying stuff
WING-WALKING – aircrew getting out there to fix whatever has gone wrong – is surely the ultimate in bravery.
A colleague, prompted by last week's account of Catalina pilot Bill Taylor who wing-walked to transfer oil from a defunct engine, has found another of an airman who got the Victoria Cross.
RAF Sergeant Norman Jackson was in a Lancaster on a bombing raid over Germany in 1944. He crawled along the wing with a fire extinguisher, to put out a fire in one of the engines.
His mates had opened his parachute inside the aircraft and they paid out the cords as he made his way along. He put out the flames, but next thing an enemy fighter was firing at him. Then he was gone in the slipstream, his parachute also on fire.
He dropped thousands of feet, falling too fast, but bushes broke his fall and he survived to be taken prisoner. The Lancaster crashed but some of the crew baled and also were taken POW. It was their account of events that had Jackson awarded the VC.
Astonishing, vertigo-inducing stuff.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Questions, not tulips
WHEN it's spring again, I'll bring again … questions from Amsterdam. Jon Eiselin, of the Netherlands, is anxious to find out the history and origins of the tidal pool at Brighton Beach.
He understands it was built during World War II by Italian POWs – but is not entirely sure. He wants to know who commissioned it, who built it, how long it took and anything else relevant.
I'm sure there must be dozens of people on the Bluff who could tell him.
Jon would also like to know about other tidal pools on the South African coast. There are quite a few along the South Coast of KZN and at least three on the North.
The tidal pool at Umdloti is a big, totally natural one. Further north at Chaka's Rock and Salt Rock they have magnificent man-enhanced tidal pools that are often full of green/white phosphorescence at night. When somebody dives in, he/she lights up like an electric bulb. It makes for spectacular skinnydipping.
I'm not sure if this is the kind of information Jon is wanting, but I volunteer it all the same..
Tailpiece
Says the broom bride: "I think I'm going to have a whisk."
Broom groom: "That's impossible. We haven't even swept together."
Last word
Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
No comments:
Post a Comment