Panspermia hypotheses Theory & Has life on Earth come from anywhere else ? Explained

Panspermia (from Ancient Greek "pan", meaning 'all', and σπέρμα (Sperma), meaning 'seed') is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids, and also by spacecraft carrying unintended contamination by microorganisms. Distribution may have occurred spanning galaxies, and so may not be restricted to the limited scale of solar systems.

 

Has life on Earth come from anywhere else? : Forbes

Panspermia hypotheses propose ​(for example) that microscopic life-forms that can survive the effects of space (such as extremophiles) can become trapped in debris ejected into space after collisions between planets and small Solar System bodies that harbor life. Some organisms may travel dormant for an extended amount of time before colliding randomly with other planets or intermingling with protoplanetary disks. Under certain ideal impact circumstances (into a body of water, for example), and ideal conditions on a new planet's surfaces, it is possible that the surviving organisms could become active and begin to colonize their new environment. At least one report finds that endospores from a type of Bacillus bacteria found in Morocco can survive being heated to 420 °C (788 °F), making the argument for Panspermia even stronger. Panspermia studies concentrate not on how life began, but on the methods that may cause its distribution in the Universe

The panspermia hypothesis suggests life began on Earth when the "seeds" of life, already present in the universe, arrived here from space. How did these seeds, or microbes, get here? Proposed transport methods include meteorites, comets, and spacecraft.

The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras wrote about the idea in the 5th century B.C. Since then, other scientists, including British astronomer Sir Frederick Hoyle (1915–2001), believed panspermia not only explained how life originated here but also proposed the process continues to bring microbes or other life-forms to Earth. — Laura Layton, Associate Editor

The panspermia hypothesis suggests life began on Earth when the "seeds" of life, already present in the universe, arrived here from space.

when it comes to the question of where and

How did life start on the earth 

Panspermia hypotheses Theory : Souces :shutterstock

there's an interesting puzzle to do with an idea called panspermia and family is about the exchange of living things across the universe in particular in our solar system some scientists feel that wisely have had a better chance of getting started not on the earth but perhaps on Mars which is the early chemistry and environment of moments would be very different than it is today then that life could be transferred to the earth later on through free run for the collision of asteroid literally standing material from the surface of time out in the state where it risks the orbit that eventually bring it down to the surface of another planet we can find pieces of Mars here we suspect there are people diverse on Mars service asset and beans and exchange of materials if that material can actually carry in living organisms with it there is possible either that we are motion any life on Mars is actually from Earth that's a really big question right now is whether or not the being natural cross-contamination of life between planet and us how might we tell whether or not we're related emotions emotions are related to us so obviously you can look at the molecular structure of life delve into the gene sequence into the DNA code itself and to look so pieces of the code that do is very common molecule pieces all the machinery of life for example things called ribosomes help to read out our DNA and build some things in our cells we find this gene sequence for ribosomes and organism on Mars that might point to a common origin for life.

A spacecraft cruises silently through the outer spiral arm of the milky way these voyages from lands far away aren't in a hurry traveling at just 60 000 miles an hour a crawl by cosmic standards but they've kept their pace for a million years journeying by several thousand star systems over a distance of a hundred light years and each new star system they pass they scan searching for the perfect combination that they're looking for a lifeless new planet around a young yellow sun circling in on their long sought after quarry passing close by to the planet's surface they deploy their ancient payload [Music] dropping shielded through the atmosphere to land on the surface disgorging its contents inside is a 1 000 kilogram payload of bacterial samples [Music] 100 different types each varied and suited to a different environment a few immediately perish on the surface of this new planet the chemistry and conditions all wrong but the ones that survive find a habitat ripe for the taking they not only survive but thrive quickly moving to colonize the surface and they evolve adapting to new niches exploiting brand new environments over the next four billion years or so while the yellow sun brightens overhead they evolve into ever more complex forms [Music] until eventually they evolve into conscious creatures beings that are self-aware with culture and philosophy science mighty civilizations rise and fall eons and golden ages coming and going until finally for the first time these colonists can give their home a name earth this origin story might sound like science fiction but it's a real credible scientific theory first proposed in the 1970s by one of the discoverers of dna francis crick it's just one of the options for the phenomenon known as panspermia an alternative extraterrestrial hypothesis for how life on earth began [Music] panspermia a term stemming from ancient greece directly translates to all seeds it describes the idea that the seeds of life spread by distribution throughout the universe either accidentally or manually driven germinating and spreading wherever it finds a likely host planet it's more than a fringe theory too and not considered pseudoscience panspermia is something scientists have been coming back to for hundreds of years in 1903 it was swedish chemist svante arenas who first suggested that spores could be driven across the expanse of space by the pressure of solar radiation and by 1957 it was again suggested that life on earth came from another planet as an aggressive infection an alternative concept was proposed in 1960 that earth life was the byproduct of cosmic garbage organic detritus left behind by an older much more advanced civilization and as we have learned in the 1970s francis crick entertained the possibility of intentional directed panspermia it's something we can imagine doing ourselves to seed other planets with the template of our own ecosystems finally by the 1980s eminent mathematician chandra wikramsing went so far as to suggest that viruses might have rained down from interplanetary space and thus responsible for brand new epidemics on the one hand and boosts in evolution on the other theories of panspermia find credence in the evidence from the early earth by all reckoning our planet's first half billion years or so were a violent tumultuous time it was a truly inhospitable place for life to begin and yet begin it did remarkably rapidly after the end of the hellish haitian certain compounds like sugars and amino acids require the conditions of a solar nebula to form and are delivered to a planet's surface by the relentless solar wind undoubtedly some of the ingredients for life did come from space in what is sometimes known as soft panspermia in 2004 the stardust mission flew a special sample collecting gel through the tail of a comet and returned it to the earth inside that gel scientists found amino acids and other organic compounds essential to life [Music] it's likely that these cosmic chemicals accreted along with the earth and have been raining down gradually ever since but although modern scientists can begin to identify parts of the molecular puzzle and describe how life could have arisen from the basic building blocks available at the planet's surface that puzzle has yet to be fully solved the true origin of life on earth is still a mystery so then it seems almost natural to ask could it have originated somewhere else could microorganisms have been seeded on the earth not long after its formation either intentionally or accidentally the directed panspermia posited by crick is certainly possible our earth is just four and a half billion years old but the universe is more than three times as ancient star systems that formed early on in the universe's history could host civilizations much older and more advanced than our own so while we don't yet have the technology for an interstellar seeding mission it's conceivable that such a technology could be developed with time and yet with only one living planet that we know of right now evidence for directed panspermia is lacking instead passive panspermia is a hypothesis we can give substance to with our knowledge of physical processes ongoing in the solar system today there is evidence that life could accidentally have been seeded across the cosmos for a living being to travel from one celestial body to another they must survive three trials escape transit and delivery first they must escape their host planet while we are firmly rooted to the ground or the lower layers of the atmosphere at least microorganisms are more flighty small enough to be moved by atmospheric forces moved upwards by thunderstorms and volcanic eruptions they can travel right to the top of the atmosphere where it's assumed it's easier for them to be whipped away by the solar wind beginning what could be a near endless journey through the heavens or they could escape by the catastrophic forces that jeopardize life on the surface large enough asteroids can shatter surface rocks scattering them upwards out into space if those rocks contain microbes then they could very well become tiny spacecraft manned by a bacterial crew the next challenge is to survive the journey through space a cold dry vacuum awash with deadly radiation space is not a friendly place for life and the sheer distance between planets and near endless void of inhospitable wasteland means that any bacterial travelers face a long journey depending on their heading and destination the trip could last millions of years [Music] over the last few decades since humanity took to the solar system scientists have conducted plenty of experiments on board satellites and spacecraft to see how well earth's bacteria could survive in the vast reaches of space it turns out that many microbes are able to protect themselves against the cold and dry conditions in a primitive form of cryostasis as inactive spores but uv and cosmic radiation remains a threat even to dormant spores having the power to break and distort the genetic material inside the cells killing them outright or mutating them beyond recognition so some shielding is needed and if not in a specially designed spacecraft then a simple rock will suffice the radiation cannot pass far through solid rock so microbial passengers contained within could weather the cosmic storm [Music] but these interplanetary voyagers have one final challenge before they can become the colonists of a new world they must survive the landing meteors raining down on earth experience intense heating and a shock of impact that is enough to melt solid rock could a simple life form possibly survive this too has been tested by modern scientists by shooting bacterial samples through a powerful air cannon the survival of these spores suggests that under the right conditions microbes could indeed survive a landing encased in their protective rock armor for a million years and when the dust finally clears the new world is theirs to call their own so evidence on earth suggests that life could indeed have survived a trip through space but evidence that it actually did and this is how the seeds of life were delivered to earth almost 4 billion years ago is lacking the potential evidence has simply been lost to the mists of time to plate tectonics and the recycling of the earth's surface some would argue that this is a moot point anyway if during the first years of our world some four billion years ago living beings arrived on earth from another planet it only shifts the question of the origin of life to a different location and one we know even less about than the early earth life must have begun somewhere but since we still don't have all of the answers for how life got started here then another planet another environment could hold the key another planet could be host to some factor that makes the spontaneous generation of life much more likely and today we are discovering thousands of new exoplanets in orbit around alien stars for the first time we can probe these extraterrestrial environments in search of answers we may yet find francis crick's advanced civilization as gods creating species in their image throughout the cosmos but until life is found on another planet we will never truly know whether we are children of the earth or of the universe 

Did Aliens Seed Life on Earth? 

Aliens Seed Life on Earth Souces: Prezi

The debate on “where humans came from” has raged for centuries, with even the standard theory of evolution still labeled as just that - a theory. But there are also many stranger ideas about the origins of life on our planet. This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; Did aliens seed life on Earth? Are you a fiend for facts? Are you constantly curious? Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one? And ring the bell for more fascinating content! The Panspermia Hypothesis says that if life really does exist throughout the universe, then perhaps the key elements and resources that we need to cultivate life on Earth came from outer space originally. It works closely with the Fermi Paradox, which questions why aliens, assuming they exist, haven’t made contact with us; and the Drake Equation, which estimates how densely populated by alien races our galaxy actually is. Panspermia - which translates as “all seed” - comes in a couple of different types, including accidental and directed panspermia. The first suggests that the supposed “seeds for life” were distributed by chance, while directed panspermia proposes that an alien race spread their seed deliberately. The general theory of human life having an extra-terrestrial backstory has only attracted serious scientific attention in the last two hundred years, but many well-known scientists have lent their voice to it, including Stephen Hawking who believed that panspermia was certainly possible. So, just how viable is it? Importantly, decades of experimentation have shown us that space doesn’t have to be void of all life. There are some organisms that we already know about that can survive the extreme, freezing temperatures, lack of oxygen, and high radiation levels. For example, a team of British scientists in 2013 discovered a new type of algae that might feasibly survive space travel if trapped inside space debris like a meteorite. After shooting frozen pellets of the algae into the water at 4.31 miles per second (which is roughly the speed of a meteorite impacting with Earth), they found that a small percentage of the organisms could survive. In the grand scheme of human evolutionary history, this might’ve been all it took to start an entire ecosystem. Other real-world asteroid strikes provide further evidence that panspermia is at least “not impossible”… such as the Murchison meteorite, which landed in Australia in 1969 containing vital organic compounds including amino acids - the building blocks of life on Earth. Other, similar asteroids have shown up all across the globe, with NASA scientists speculating that the amino acids they carry could well have been made in space since the only elements required are nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide – none of which are especially rare. So, plain ol’ panspermia is a possibility. Directed panspermia adds another crucial factor, though; a race of unknown, hyper-intelligent alien creatures with some kind of agenda for planet Earth. It’s a sizeable leap, but what would it mean if true? General suggested reasons for directed panspermia include it being an elaborate, fairly ominous alien experiment to grow and study life on Earth - treating our particular planet as though it’s a giant petri dish. Failing that, the alien overlords are painted as gods, divinely spreading life throughout the universe simply because they can, and they feel like it’s the right thing to do. Growing stuff for the sake of growing it could well sound strange, but it’s actually what humans are in the early stages of trying to achieve right now - by pitching plans to terraform Mars. So, take that kind of ambition and place it onto an all-powerful, intergalactic race of creatures, and directed panspermia starts to make some sense. Advocates for the theory claim there’s circumstantial evidence for directed panspermia much closer to home, too; in the shape of some diseases and allergies. Humans suffer more health ailments than any other species, with any one person falling ill dozens or even hundreds of times in their lifetime. And some of those illnesses are arguably “triggered” by the living conditions on Earth, and therefore point to us not necessarily belonging on this planet - or, so the theory goes. Hay-fever is usually put forward as a prime example since a pollen allergy is exceptionally inconvenient on a planet that needs pollination to live. Then there are the various health complications that can arise after over-exposure to the sun - again fairly inconvenient given how prominent the sun is in our lifestyles. But theorists have even gone so far as far to suggest that major disease outbreaks in the past – including mad cow disease and polio – were linked to alien microbes, though these particular claims have been debunked as having no real evidence behind them. Other suggested motives for directed panspermia move away from human life being an alien experiment, though. Instead, it could simply be a method of intergalactic colonization. Again, humans have aimed to move to other planets, so why not aliens - especially ultra-advanced aliens? Along these lines, perhaps the reason we don’t see extra-terrestrials everywhere is that they’re also not capable of large-scale interstellar travel, so purposefully sending tiny seeds is their best and only way to spread out. The panspermia seeds may have been the last remnants of an ancient, dying civilization sent out in the hope that they’d find a home elsewhere in the universe… and lo and behold they ended up on Earth. If that’s true, then perhaps humans today are even identical or very similar to those creatures of the past, aliens who lived a long time ago in a galaxy far beyond our reach. In fact, in 2015, scientists discovered a tiny metal structure in space reportedly full of biological material, and it was again put forward as possible evidence of panspermia - or at least of attempted panspermia. As arguments for panspermia have gained traction in recent years, we’ve started to see human initiatives based on the principles of it. The Breakthrough Starshot Project is planning to send small “Minecraft” probes, traveling at one-fifth of the speed of light, towards Alpha Centauri. While these probes won’t contain biological materials (they’re more focused on simply understanding the closest star system to our own), they do pave the way for similar missions with a focus on panspermia in the near future. Of course, such a move would compromise Earth’s long-standing, international planetary protection rules, which prohibit the biological contamination of space. And so, if aliens did seed life on earth, and directed panspermia is a real phenomenon, then that alien race can’t have had comparable legislation. Either that or they chose to overrule it… Which, given our ever-growing focus on Mars, the wider solar system, and other galaxies in general, feels like a decision that humankind will also encounter at some stage. At that point, we’d be the aliens doing the seeding, most likely as a way for us to ensure our own longevity. And so, if it’s reasonably imaginable that we’d one day be facilitating directed panspermia for ourselves, is it so unimaginable that some other creature could’ve achieved the same thing in the distant, distant past? Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to discover that human life came from somewhere else entirely. Far from making us doubt our own autonomy as a species, it could be seen as optimistic proof of extra-terrestrial beings and of general life’s ability to survive absolutely anything. What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments,