US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — In recent weeks, the media has only been talking about a new coronavirus from China. During this time, many theories have emerged to explain the onset of the pandemic – from snakes and bats to secret laboratories in Wuhan, reports ABC, Spain.
Now a new theory is being actively discussed in social networks: a virus that has infected almost 200 thousand people around the world (more than 13 thousand people in Spain) may have come from outer space.
The famous astrophysicist Chandra Wickramasinghe actively supports the theory of pan-mercury (the hypothesis of the possible transfer of life from a meteorite to Earth). He himself is considered a British astrophysicist who arrived in foggy Albion from the sunny island of Sri Lanka. So, a few days ago he suggested that the virus could be on a meteorite, and then get to Earth on one of its fragments, which swept over China in the form of a fireball in October 2019.
The arguments of astrophysicists are not limited to this. Chandra Wickramasinghe also noted that earlier, other space objects also probably brought viruses to Earth. Say, no matter where the meteorite falls, nearby there are certainly outbreaks of diseases, for example, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which at the beginning of the 21st century claimed the lives of thousands of people around the planet.
Is there any truth to this?
Actually this theory is not new. As far back as the 1970s, Chandra Wickramasinghe himself co-authored with the British astronomer Fred Hoyle the book “Diseases from Space”. In it, scientists argue that even the flu is of extraterrestrial origin. Nevertheless, the scientific community has been refuting for many years the arguments of Chandra Wickramasinghe that any such illness could have come to Earth from space.
“One needs to have an incomparable fantasy to discover that the virus can survive the cosmic radiation that it undergoes on such a long journey, survive the temperature shock when flying through the atmosphere and falling – and still be able to infect people after landing,” the article says. Space com astrobiologist Graham Lau, who runs NASA‘s Ask the Astrobiologist program. However, no matter how unique and incredible the discovery, Chandra Wickramasinghe failed to provide convincing evidence to support his statement, says Graham Lau. “Despite the fact that this is an interesting idea, we simply have no reason to take it at face value now.”
Graham Lau explains that it is important for the scientific community to identify “pseudoscience” that does not rely on clear evidence. In addition, everything that we currently know about the new coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, is consistent with our knowledge of other terrestrial viruses. In other words, it is too similar to other terrestrial viruses to come from space.
“If there was any other biomolecule in it that differs from life in the form in which we know it, then there would be an occasion to consider a version of the extraterrestrial origin of the virus. And all the same, there would remain “earthly” explanations, ”says Graham Lau.
Panspermia Theory
The statement of Chandra Wickramasinghe is related to the theory of panspermia that arose at the end of the 19th century, according to which life on Earth arose from microorganisms and biological material that came from outer space.
Theoretically, this could be so, but scientists have not yet found any supporting evidence. According to this hypothesis, biomaterials can survive inside meteorites, being in a kind of lethargy, protected from cosmic radiation by the thickness of a meteorite or comet, and then reach the Earth.
According to some researchers, the proof of this theory is the fact that organic molecules, such as amino acids, were discovered inside the rocks extracted from previous meteorites. “However, despite the theoretical possibility, there is no reliable evidence that the new coronavirus comes from space,” says Graham Lau.
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The article is written and prepared by our foreign editors from different countries around the world – material edited and published by Ordo News staff in our US newsroom press.