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SARS virus a star trekker, says Narlikar: Pioneer
New Delhi, June 12: As the SARS epidemic wanes, renowned astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar has said the deadly virus that wreaked havoc in China and other parts of the world appeared to have its origins in outer space.
New Delhi, June 12: As the SARS epidemic wanes, renowned astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar has said the deadly virus that wreaked havoc in China and other parts of the world appeared to have its origins in outer space.
"Micro-organisms are showered on earth every day in frozen form by comets, asteroids and meteorites and recent experiments conducted by myself and Chandra Wickramsinghe of Cardiff University found live bacteria in outer space," Mr Narlikar, Director of Pune-based Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics said.
If the killer pneumonia virus was to descend from outer space, the tall peaks of Himalayas with thinner layers of atmosphere provide an ideal landing place, followed by sporadic deposits in the neighbouring areas," he said.
"The wind directions are likely to drive them towards China," he reasoned, citing the emergence of the disease in the mainland China.
The virus could attack earthlings depending on the atmospheric transport and mixing, leading to a fall-out continuing seasonally over a few years, he warned.
New cases of SARS may continue to be reported till the atmospheric supply of the virus becomes exhausted, he said. However, to confirm that SARS actually originated from outer space more air samples would be needed to be examined for viruses, he said. Mr Narlikar and Mr Wickramsinghe had, in October 2001, conducted experiments and found existence of micro-bacteria in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
"We found live cells and bacteria at a height of 41 km above the earth`s surface, thus making it very probable that micro-life exists at such heights and beyond," Mr Narlikar said.
The theory that micro-organisms from outer space showered life on earth was first put forward, 25 years ago, by British scientists Fred Hoyle and Wickramsinghe.
Citing similar examples, Mr Narlikar claims that the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 too was a result of viral deposits from outer space. The 1918-19 influenza epidemic started in Mumbai and Boston within a day of each other. This, according to Mr Narlikar, could not have been possible by person-to-person contact as air travel was primitive in those days.
"Micro-organisms are showered on earth every day in frozen form by comets, asteroids and meteorites and recent experiments conducted by myself and Chandra Wickramsinghe of Cardiff University found live bacteria in outer space," Mr Narlikar, Director of Pune-based Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics said.
If the killer pneumonia virus was to descend from outer space, the tall peaks of Himalayas with thinner layers of atmosphere provide an ideal landing place, followed by sporadic deposits in the neighbouring areas," he said.
"The wind directions are likely to drive them towards China," he reasoned, citing the emergence of the disease in the mainland China.
The virus could attack earthlings depending on the atmospheric transport and mixing, leading to a fall-out continuing seasonally over a few years, he warned.
New cases of SARS may continue to be reported till the atmospheric supply of the virus becomes exhausted, he said. However, to confirm that SARS actually originated from outer space more air samples would be needed to be examined for viruses, he said. Mr Narlikar and Mr Wickramsinghe had, in October 2001, conducted experiments and found existence of micro-bacteria in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
"We found live cells and bacteria at a height of 41 km above the earth`s surface, thus making it very probable that micro-life exists at such heights and beyond," Mr Narlikar said.
The theory that micro-organisms from outer space showered life on earth was first put forward, 25 years ago, by British scientists Fred Hoyle and Wickramsinghe.
Citing similar examples, Mr Narlikar claims that the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 too was a result of viral deposits from outer space. The 1918-19 influenza epidemic started in Mumbai and Boston within a day of each other. This, according to Mr Narlikar, could not have been possible by person-to-person contact as air travel was primitive in those days.