Panspermia theory burned to a crisp: bacteria couldn’t survive on meteorite
by Jonathan Sarfati
Image by ESA
Published: 10 October 2008(GMT+10)
A number of evolutionists have become disillusioned with ideas that life could have
evolved from non-living chemicals on Earth (i.e. via
chemical evolution, sometimes called ‘abiogenesis’). So they
hoped that with the whole universe to work with, life might have evolved elsewhere
in the universe, and travelled to Earth. This is the theory of panspermia,
from Greek πάς/πάν (pas/pan, all) and σπέρμα
(sperma, seed), i.e. seeds of life are everywhere in the universe (see
how one evolutionist ‘reasons’ to panspermia).
The classic form of panspermia is the theory that these seeds happen to hitch a
ride on comets or meteorites (as opposed to ‘directed panspermia’ where
the seeds are sent by aliens1).
Yet a recent experiment has dealt a fatal blow to this theory, because it showed
that they couldn’t survive the extreme heat on entering the earth’s
atmosphere—and causes meteoroids to become meteors or ‘shooting stars’.2
Experimental disproof
Scientists at the Centre of Molecular Biophysics in Orleans, France, managed to
simulate a meteorite entry by attaching rocks to the heat shield of a returning
Russian spacecraft (FOTON M3 capsule) last month. These rocks were smeared with
a hardy bacterium called Chroococcidiopsis—supposed to resemble a
proposed germ on Mars. The rocks also contained microfossils.
After the spacecraft was retrieved, the microfossils survived, but the Chroococcidiopsis
was burned black, although their outlines remained. Lead author Frances Westall
says:
The results are more problematic when applied to panspermia. STONE-6 showed at least
two centimetres (0.8 inch) of rock is not sufficient to protect the organisms during
[atmospheric] entry.—Frances Westall, Centre of Molecular Biophysics in Orleans
‘The STONE-6 experiment suggests that, if Martian sedimentary meteorites carry
traces of past life, these traces could be safely transported to Earth. However,
the results are more problematic when applied to panspermia. STONE-6 showed at least
two centimetres (0.8 inch) of rock is not sufficient to protect the organisms during
[atmospheric] entry.’2
Their original paper stated:
‘The Chroococcidiopsis did not survive but their carbonized remains
did. Thus sedimentary meteorites from Mars could reach the surface of the Earth
and, if they contain traces of fossil life, these traces could be preserved. However,
living organisms may need more than 2 cm of rock protection.’3
The paper also had this typically cautious concluding remark:
‘However, because of a technological flaw, no conclusions can be drawn regarding
the thickness of rocky materials needed to protect extant life during atmospheric
entry.’
It turned out that there was:
‘burning of the back side of this particular sample owing, apparently, to
the entry of heat and flames behind the sample. This occurred because the difference
in composition between the carbon-carbon screws and the silicon phenolic material
of the sample holder resulted in a space appearing between the screws and the screw
holes. Thus, the Chroococcidiopsis cells were completely carbonised despite
the 2 cm thickness of protective rock covering them.’
However, this didn’t stop the leading researcher asserting that 2 cm of rock
was insufficient, both in a press release and in their abstract. A real rock is
likely to have gaps larger than in the experiment.
Indeed, this experiment seems to understate the problems. The paper states:
‘Entry speed of the FOTON capsule was 7.6 km/sec, slightly lower than the
normal meteorite velocities of 12–15 km/sec. It was possible to determine
the minimum temperature reached during entry through the thermal dissociation of
one of the space cement that occurs at a temperature of ~1700°C. Although the
basalt control sample was lost, comparison with the results of the STONE 5 experiment
indicates that the temperatures upon entry are high enough to form a fusion crust.’3
One must question whether little over half the speed is ‘slightly lower’.
It’s worse because the frictional drag and kinetic energy are proportional
to the square of the velocity; i.e. if the velocity is doubled, the drag
and energy are quadrupled.4
This indicates that a real meteorite would heat up much more, requiring an even
thicker shield.
Life from Mars?
This experiment also supports
our rejection of the life from Mars hype in 1996, in that the atmosphere
would likely fry any Martian meteoritic microbes. We also pointed out that life
on Mars was more likely to have been blasted off from Earth in the first place,
and this experiment indirectly reinforces this. I.e. the frictional drag is proportional
to the atmospheric density,4 and the Martian atmosphere is < 1% as dense as ours.
So planets with dense atmospheres are more likely to be sources than destinations
for life.
Conclusion
Panspermia has now been shown to have a huge flaw. Since panspermia was a common
last-ditch attempt to preserve materialism in the face of problems in chemical evolution
on Earth, materialism itself has likewise taken yet another huge blow.
Related articles
Further reading
Related resources
References
- Crick, F. and Orgel, L.E., Directed Panspermia, Icarus
19:341–346, 1973. Return to text.
-
Meteorite experiment deals blow to bugs from space theory, Physorg.com,
25 September 2008. Return to text.
- Westall, F. et al.,
STONE 6: Sedimentary meteors from Mars, European Planetary
Science Congress Abstracts 3, EPSC2008-A-00407, 2008.
Return to text.
- Kinetic energy is given by E = ½mv2, where m is mass
and v is velocity. Frictional drag force is given by fdrag = ½CρAv2,
where ρ is the air density, A the cross-sectional area, and C is a numerical
drag coefficient
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