No, The Guardian, a magic carbon layer is not a sign of extraterrestrial life

[n2doc]

by Chris Lee

Sometimes, scientists announce things that are breathtakingly stupid. The Guardian, which generally has pretty good science coverage, has an article up reporting that some top scientists believe that the comet 67P may harbour lots and lots of life. The purported evidence for life is the presence of complex hydrocarbons on the comet's crust. Of course, this article is just based on a press release, and the data won't be available until it's presented later today at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society.

But The Guardian could at least have done some background reading on the person behind the claim, Chandra Wickramasinghe. It would have found that he has a long history of making claims about extraterrestrial life (and that he testified in favour of teaching creationism in US classrooms). Or, the reporter could have talked to someone who knows a little bit about surface chemistry—like me.

I am here to make a prediction: this claim will vanish, never to be heard from again. If scepticism were radioactive, a crowd of lead-suited firefighters would be sacrificing their lives to bury me in concrete as I typed this. At this point, you should be thinking, who the hell is this guy to say that an astronomer is wrong about something astronomical? Surely, Chris-the-physicist is out of his depth here?

Well, to be honest, I know very little about astronomy. The amount I know about comets would almost cover the bottom of a tiny thimble. (I know enough physics to say that the coverage would only be complete if we used a liquid with low surface tension, though.)

I do, however, know something about how carbon grows on surfaces.

more

http://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2015/07/magic-carbon-layer-not-a-sign-of-extraterrestrial-life/

[Maedhros]

1. Science reporting is a difficult thing, especially in the U.S.

The reporter must take very esoteric information and make it understandable to non-scientists. Since the reporter and the reader very often have a poor or non-existent understanding of science, this can lead to some tragic miscommunication.

[longship]

2. Chandra Wickramasinghe is an utter kook.

His fervent belief is that life came to the Earth from outer space (panspermia). Now that very may be true. However Chandra fervently believes it. He also self publishes his so-called science in a journal he named the Journal of Cosmology, where there is no peer review except by other fervent panspermia believers. Needless to say, none of what this guy publishes is worth a plug nickel. He is a kook.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. His "scientific" theories are driven by his religious beliefs, like Fred Hoyle ... see the Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Wickramasinghe but note the warnings.

[longship]

5. Yes, he worked with Fred Hoyle.

Who was the last stalwart of the steady state universe theory in spite of all the evidence. Well, that went away with Penzias and Wilson in 1965.



One might wonder why anybody hasn't asked Chandra why he insists on wasting his career on this stuff.

[DetlefK]

6. I just wanted to post this, but... Chandra Wickramasinghe? AW HELL NO!

I've read a paper where he discovered dead alien bacteria in a meteorite. (The meteorite was found underwater after impact. In a rice-paddie.) The reasoning was hasty and there were so many tests he could have run on the specimen with the equipment he mentioned. But he did not... for some reason. It sounded as if he got the specimen, conducted some rushed experiments over the course of less than a week and then ran off to write the paper.

[longship]

7. And self published in the "Journal of Cosmology"

I heard about that one on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe, the greatest podcast in the universe. Certainly the most reliable one. Ten years, almost never missing a week. And Dr. Steven Novella is a geek, skeptical god.

[NickB79]

8. He's the academia version of this guy

[eppur_se_muova]

4. (1) complex hydrocarbons prove nothing; (2) what's their definition of "complex" ?

In science "journalism", at least half the time it turns out to be polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PHCs) which are great at causing cancer but don't really do muchfor organisms that are trying to stay alive.

[AlbertCat]

9. This just in! Breaking News!

CANCER COMES FROM OUTTER SPACE












(sorry.... I couldn't help myself)

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Wickramsinghe has claimed ...

In 2003, in a letter to The Lancet,[10] Wickramasinghe hypothesized that elementary living organisms like the lichen-forming alga spores present in the red rain in Kerala are of extraterrestrial origin,[11] and that pathogens as the SARS virus arrived on Earth from deep space carried in asteroids and comets.[12][13]

(from Wikipedia)