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If I recall correctly this was properly debunked as false. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rain_in_Kerala http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rain_in_Kerala f

If I recall correctly this was properly debunked as false. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rain_in_Kerala http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rain_in_Kerala from the article "The color was found to be due to the presence of a large amount of spores of a lichen-forming alga belonging to the genus Trentepohlia"

gaoshan 16y ago
I'll second this. I was under the impression that it was spores of a decidedly earthbound variety. I wish it were little extraterrestrial organisms but t does not look to be the case.
anigbrowl 16y ago
I had thought so too, but it's not as simple as the Wikipedia page makes it seem. The report does consider the possibility that the red 'dye' came from a meteorite which is thought to have entered the atmosphere and exploded, but rejected this idea because it was found to be biological (as opposed to mineral). At the time of this report, nobody had suggested any exobiological explanation, so none was considered or refuted. I would be wary of relying so completely on it for a few reasons. First, the identification of the biological material as an alga of the genus Trentopohlia (which one?) was only visual in nature, and not confirmed by spectroscopic or other methods. Second, the material reproduced poorly, if at all, in growth media - except for a corn-based growth medium which had been incubated for over an hour at 60 degrees C (I presume before the introduction of the sample, their wording is a little vague). Lichens normally prefer a cool humid atmosphere; it seems Trentepohlia algae are particularly difficult to grow in culture, and I couldn't find any evidence of corn being the organism's preferred snack. There's no references so I'm not sure if this result is meant to be significant or not. Third, while the report noted the widespread presence of suitable lichens in the area and hypothesized a widespread release of spores into the air as the source of the red coloring, in the 'further studies' section following the conclusion they note that this explanation depends on phenomena that are 'quite improbable' (mass synchronous spore release in lichens is not known or thought to occur) to 'not possible': strong vertical updrafts (ie thermals) would be required to lift spores up into the atmosphere; the red rains were observed to take place in the morning, but thermals do not occur at night; rains during the preceding night and early morning were normal and should have washed out any spores which had climbed into the atmosphere the previous day. A copy is here: http://web.archive.org/web/20060613135746/http://www.geocities.com/iamgoddard/Sampath2001.pdf http://web.archive.org/web/20060613135746/http://www.geociti... I don't know whether this new theory has any basis in fact. I'm just pointing out the weaknesses in the default hypothesis, as observed by the authors themselves.

gaoshan 16y ago

I'll second this. I was under the impression that it was spores of a decidedly earthbound variety. I wish it were little extraterrestrial organisms but t does not look to be the case.

anigbrowl 16y ago

I had thought so too, but it's not as simple as the Wikipedia page makes it seem. The report does consider the possibility that the red 'dye' came from a meteorite which is thought to have entered the atmosphere and exploded, but rejected this idea because it was found to be biological (as opposed to mineral). At the time of this report, nobody had suggested any exobiological explanation, so none was considered or refuted. I would be wary of relying so completely on it for a few reasons. First, the identification of the biological material as an alga of the genus Trentopohlia (which one?) was only visual in nature, and not confirmed by spectroscopic or other methods. Second, the material reproduced poorly, if at all, in growth media - except for a corn-based growth medium which had been incubated for over an hour at 60 degrees C (I presume before the introduction of the sample, their wording is a little vague). Lichens normally prefer a cool humid atmosphere; it seems Trentepohlia algae are particularly difficult to grow in culture, and I couldn't find any evidence of corn being the organism's preferred snack. There's no references so I'm not sure if this result is meant to be significant or not. Third, while the report noted the widespread presence of suitable lichens in the area and hypothesized a widespread release of spores into the air as the source of the red coloring, in the 'further studies' section following the conclusion they note that this explanation depends on phenomena that are 'quite improbable' (mass synchronous spore release in lichens is not known or thought to occur) to 'not possible': strong vertical updrafts (ie thermals) would be required to lift spores up into the atmosphere; the red rains were observed to take place in the morning, but thermals do not occur at night; rains during the preceding night and early morning were normal and should have washed out any spores which had climbed into the atmosphere the previous day. A copy is here: http://web.archive.org/web/20060613135746/http://www.geocities.com/iamgoddard/Sampath2001.pdf http://web.archive.org/web/20060613135746/http://www.geociti... I don't know whether this new theory has any basis in fact. I'm just pointing out the weaknesses in the default hypothesis, as observed by the authors themselves.