Israel Lobby Dominates Congress, Media Covers it Up

by Alison Weir, August 11, 2011

http://original.antiwar.com/alison-weir/2011/08/10/israel-lobby-dominates-congress/

You might think that 20 percent of the American Congress going on all-expenses-paid, weeklong junkets to a foreign country — paid for by a lobby for that country — would be newsworthy, especially when the top congressional leaders of both parties are leading the trips.
You would be wrong.
Eighty-one congressional representatives from all over the country, led by Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, are traveling to Israel this month. Most are freshmen congressmen, and the group includes half of all the freshmen Republicans voted into office in 2010.
The weeklong trips are being paid for by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), which was created in 1990 as a supporting organization of AIPAC, America’s major pro-Israel lobbying organization, and they are located in the same building. AIEF, which is only one of numerous organizations pushing pro-Israel policies, has an annual budget of over $24 million, with an even larger endowment.
This is an extraordinary situation. No other lobby on behalf of a foreign country comes anywhere near controlling such wealth or taking so many of America’s elected representatives on a propaganda trip to its favorite country.
Not all those going on these trips are enthusiastic. The wife of one congressman who made a similar trip some years ago said that she and her husband had never been exposed to such pressure in all their lives. She said that at one point on their trip, her husband — a normally extremely tough man — was curled up in a fetal position.
A staff member of one representative participating in this month’s junkets said the representative had no choice. If the congressional rep didn’t go on the trip, the rep would be targeted by AIPAC; large quantities of money, including massive out-of-state money, would be raised for the opponent in the next election; and quite likely the representative would be defeated. The staffer said that the Israel Lobby is far too powerful to ignore and that American voters have no knowledge of what’s going on.
It’s no surprise that voters are unaware that their representatives are being propagandized and pressured by a foreign lobby. Their news media almost never tells them.
The Associated Press, America’s number one news service, has decided not to report on a lobbying group taking 81 representatives to a foreign country in order to influence their votes.
Even though the trips are being reported by news media in Britain, Iran, India, Israel, Lebanon, and elsewhere, AP has decided to give the story a pass. When contacted about this, an AP editor in Washington, D.C., said AP knew about the trips and was “looking into it.”
Taking a similar tack, The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, ABC, et al., failed to inform Americans about the trips. The Washington Post, after the story was posted throughout the blogosphere, finally covered it belatedly on Page 13. The CBS website had a story on the situation, but CBS News made no mention of the junkets on-air.
The only AP stories on the subject are scattered local stories about individual representatives. For example, AP’s Chicago bureau reported that Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is taking part, without reporting that he was one of 81 representatives accepting these all-expenses-paid junkets and that his trip was being paid for by the pro-Israel lobby.
A few other American media outlets reported the story in interestingly diverse ways:
Washington’s Politico covered it twice; The Atlantic‘s website reported on people who were “kvetching” about the one-sided nature of the junkets, pointing out that some of the reps were also going to meet with some Palestinian leaders, without telling how many (no one will say) and for how long (apparently for a few hours of the weeklong trip). Los Angeles’ Jewish Journal was remarkably forthright, reporting that “the congressional reps will be getting the dog and pony show,” and Commentary gloated at the “astonishing” number of representatives going on the trip, noting that “Congress is the backstop that gives Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu the ability to say ‘no’” to the president of the United States.
While Commentary claims that the willingness of congressional representatives to go on all-expenses-paid trips by one of the country’s most powerful lobbies “is a good reflection of American public opinion on the Middle East,” this is actually not accurate.
Surveys find that an extraordinarily strong majority of Americans — typically between two-thirds to three-quarters — do not wish the U.S. to take sides on Israel-Palestine. Such widespread desire for neutrality is particularly noteworthy given that U.S. news sources across the political spectrum are consistently highly Israel-centric in their reporting.
It is quite likely that such voters would be unhappy to learn that a foreign lobby has such power over their elected representatives, leading them to give the favored nation, one of the smallest and wealthiest countries on the planet, over $8 million per day of American tax money when the U.S. is in the middle of a financial crisis.
Perhaps that’s why AP and the others don’t tell them.

Read more by Alison Weir

• Critical Connections: Egypt, the US, and Israel  – February 4th, 2011
• Israel’s Flotilla ‘Investigation’ – June 17th, 2010

Only 20 percent of U.S. House of Representatives will visit Israel during summer recess

by Jeff Blankfort and Phil Weiss on August 8, 2011

http://mondoweiss.net/2011/08/only-20-percent-of-u-s-house-of-representatives-will-visit-israel-during-summer-recess.html

From Jerusalem Post, 81 congressmen to visit Israel during the summer recess, including leaders Steny Hoyer and Eric Cantor:

Most of the representatives are freshmen congressmen, with 47 – or fully half of the freshmen Republicans voted into office in 2010 – making the trip.

For many of them, this will be their first trip to Israel.

The week-long trips are sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, a charitable organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which brings large delegations of congressmen here every other August.
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) will head the Democratic delegation, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) will lead one of the Republican groups.

This is just another example of how we are living in inflationary times. In 2009, the year before the last election there were only 55 members of Congress going to Israel during the August recess, 25 Republicans followed by 30 Democrats.  This brings up the old joke: "Why doesn't Israel want to become the 51st state? Because then it would only have two senators."

Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle

Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), the fastest aircraft ever built is designed to fly anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes, crashed into the Pacific Ocean, although officials said they were able to gather "unique data" that will guide the development effort.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/falcon-hypersonic-technology-vehicle-2-htv-2--1313082093-slideshow/

 

A Mysterious Hiss from the Milky Way (Part 1)

August 4, 2011

http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/4406/karl-jansky/

In the early 1930′s, Bell Labs, the research division of AT&T, wished to use radio “short waves” for transatlantic radio telephone links.  A young engineer, Karl Jansky, was assigned the job of finding sources of radio static that might interfere with radio transmissions.  During his work, he made an accidental discovery that revolutionized astronomy.

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To search for static that might interfere with radio transmission, Jansky built an antenna to detect radio waves at a frequency of 20.5 MHz (a wavelength of 14.5 meters). He mounted the rotatable antenna on four Ford Model-T tires to determine the direction of any radio signal he might find. The antenna was jokingly called “Jansky’s merry-go-round” (see image above).
After recording signals for several months, Jansky found static from nearby and distant thunderstorms.
But he also found a faint steady radio hiss of unknown origin. The intensity of the hiss rose and fell once a day. At first, he thought the unknown static might be radio waves from the Sun.
After a few months of following the signal, the brightest point moved away from the Sun. The signal repeated not every 24 hours, but every 23 hours and 56 minutes, the same period in which the stars rise and set.
Jansky eventually figured out the radiation was strongest in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation of Sagittarius. The discovery of radio waves from the center of the galaxy was widely publicized, appearing in the New York Times on May 5, 1933.
Though he wanted to learn more about the radio waves, Jansky was assigned to another project by Bell Labs managers and did not pursue the subject further.
Many scientists were fascinated by Jansky’s discovery. But no one followed up on it for several years until a modest radio engineer from Chicago became the world’s first true radio astronomer.  We continue that story next week…
Footnote: In honor of Karl Jansky, the unit used by radio astronomers for the strength (or flux density) of radio sources is the Jansky.

Earth 'to get second sun' as supernova turns night into day

By David Gardner
Last updated at 8:12 PM on 10th March 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349383/Betelgeuse-second-sun-Earth-supernova-turns-night-day.html
The Earth could soon have a second sun, at least for a week or two.
The cosmic phenomenon will happen when one of the brightest stars in the night sky explodes into a supernova.
And, according to a report yesterday, the most stunning light show in the planet’s history could happen as soon as this year.

Cosmic phenomenon: The Earth could soon see two suns - just like Luke Skywalker saw on Tatooine in the Star Wars film (pictured)

Earth will undoubtedly have a front row seat when the dying red supergiant star Betelgeuse finally blows itself into oblivion.
The explosion will be so bright that even though the star in the Orion constellation is 640 light-years away, it will still turn night into day and appear like there are two suns in the sky for a few weeks.
The only real debate is over exactly when it will happen.
In stellar terms, Betelgeuse is predicted to crash and burn in the very near future. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to rush out and buy sunglasses.
Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, claimed yesterday that the galactic blast could happen before 2012 – or any time over the next million years.
‘This old star is running out of fuel in its centre,’ Dr Carter told te Austalian website news.com.au.
‘This fuel keeps Betelgeuse shining and supported. When this fuel runs out the star will literally collapse in upon itself and it will do so very quickly.
‘This is the final hurrah for the star. It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up - we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all,’ he added.

Look out: Betelgeuse, which is in the Orion constellation, is set to blow itself into oblivion - which will give the effect of two suns in the sky for us on Earth

The Internet is abuzz with doomsday theories linking the supernova to the Mayan calendar’s prediction of an Armageddon in 2012, fuelled by the association of the word ‘Betelgeuse’ with the devil.
But experts claimed that even if the big bang is looming, it will still happen way too far from Earth to do us any harm.
‘When a star goes bang, the first we will observe of it is a rain of tiny particles called nuetrinos,’ said Dr Carter.
‘They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99% of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.’
When it happens, the Betelgeuse supernova will almost certainly be the most dramatic ever seen.
It is the ninth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel – or Beta Orionis – only very rarely.
It’s distinct orange-red colour makes it easy to spot in the night sky.
If it was at the centre of our solar system, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Earth.

How To Make a Planet Into a Star

http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/1067/jupiter-star/

October 5, 2009

I miss Arthur C. Clarke.  He died more than 18 months ago at age 90, but the great science-fiction writer left more than 30 novels and dozens of short stories that described a mostly optimistic vision of mankind’s exploration of space and his responsible use of technology.  His most famous work, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was made into what many consider the best science fiction movie of all time.

As a writer, Clarke was no Hemingway.  But the strength of his writing came not from his elegant style or complex character development, but from his thought-provoking ideas, most of which were based on scientific fact.
Perhaps his most unexpected plot twist came in his sequel to 2001, called 2010.  Towards the end of the novel, the mysterious black monoliths of an advanced and meddlesome race began infesting and multiplying in the atmosphere of Jupiter, adding mass to the big planet in a matter of days.  As its mass grew, the planet shrunk, then finally collapsed and ignited as a new star (I won’t tell you why this happened.  You can read the book or see the movie if you’re interested; as usual, the book is better).
Here’s a view from the movie of 2010 that shows the collapse of Jupiter into a star.  The key moment happens at 3:15 into this clip.
Clarke’s idea is almost entirely accurate.  As it happens, Jupiter is not just the largest planet by size in the solar system.  Given its composition, structure, and mass, it’s as large as it can possibly be.
If Jupiter was less massive, it would be smaller like Saturn or Uranus.  But if you could add 2x, 5x, 10x or more mass to Jupiter, perhaps with the help of Clarke’s magic monoliths, the planet would not grow larger.  It would shrink.  (Don’t you wish your waistline worked like that).
As it is now, the dense core of Jupiter generates heat which radiates into space.  If the planet’s mass increased by 50x to 60x, the core would get hotter and denser until the planet turned into a “brown dwarf”, a type of failed star.  At that mass, the planet would start to grow again back to its present size.  In fact, all brown dwarfs, whether 10x or 60x Jupiter’s mass, all have roughly the same diameter as Jupiter.
If Jupiter grew to 75x its current mass, its core would get hot enough to fuse hydrogen into helium in its core.  It would become small main sequence red dwarf star, and burn steadily for billions of years.  Though even then, its diameter as a red dwarf star would only be 30% larger than the planet’s current diameter.
By comparison, our sun, which is bigger than most stars, has a diameter 10x that of Jupiter, but a mass 1000x as great.
You’ll find Jupiter this month in the constellation Capricorn, hovering fat and bright in the southern sky at an impressive magnitude -2.6.  It’s the brightest object in the southern night sky, save the moon.  Aside from Jupiter, Capricorn has quite a few sights for binoculars and small telescopes, including a lovely double star just west of the biggest planet (see page 59-60 of Stargazing for Beginners for more about what to see in this part of the sky this time of year).
Next time, we’ll give you a few tips on how to observe  Jupiter.  No monoliths required.

EVIDENCE OF MICROFOSSILS IN CI1 METEORITES AND LIFE IN ICE: IMPLICATIONS TO POSSIBLE LIFE ON COMETS, EUROPA, AND ENCELADUS
http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html
The detection of evidence of viable microbial life in ancient ice (Abyzov et al., 1998, 2003; Hoover and Pikuta, 2010) and the presence of microfossils of filamentous cyanobacteria and other trichomic prokaryotes in the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites has direct implications to possible life on comets and icy moons with liquid water oceans of Jupiter (e.g. Europa, Ganymede or Callisto) and Enceladus (Fig. 8.a) Saturn’s spectacular moon that is exhibiting cryovolcanism and spewing water, ice and organics into space from the region of the blue and white “tiger stripes.” Europa exhibits red, orange, yellow and ochre colors and fractured regions indicating the icy crust is floating on a liquid water ocean. The possibility of life on Europa has been discussed by Hoover et al. (1986): Chyba et al. (2001) Dalton et al. (2003), and in edited books by Russell (2011), and Wickramasinghe (2011) and in Volumes 5, 11, and 13 of the Journal of Cosmology. Hoover et al. (1986) argued while deep blue and white colors in the Galileo images of the Jovian moon Europa were typical of glacial ice, ice bubbles and snow on Earth as seen in this image of ice bubbles from the Schirmacher Oasis of East Antarctica (Fig, 8.b). The red, yellow, brown, golden brown, green and blue colors detected by the Galileo spacecraft in the Conamara Chaos region (Fig. 8.c.) and the deep red lines of the icy crust of Europa (Fig. 8.d.) are consistent with microbial pigments rather than evaporite minerals. The 1986 paper suggested that the colors seen in Europa images resulted from microbial life in the upper layers of the ice. A number of more recent studies and books have been published concerning the significance of ice microbiota to the possibility of life elsewhere in the Solar System (e.g. Russell 2011; Wickramasinghe 2011; Volumes 5, 7, 13 of the Journal of Cosmology).
Diatoms are golden brown and cyanobacteria exhibit a wide range of colors from blue-green to red, orange, brown and black. Bacteria recovered from ice are often pigmented. For example, the extremophiles isolated from the ancient Greenland ice cores produce pigmented colonies. Herminiimonas glaciei colonies are red (Fig. 8.e) and the colonies of “Chryseobacterium greenlandensis” exhibit yellow pigments (Fig. 6.b.). Figure 5.c. shows the red pigmented colonies of the new genus of psychrophile, Rhodoglobus vestali isolated from a lake near the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica (Sheridan et al. 2003). Colonies of Hymenobacter sp. (Fig. 6.d.) isolated from the Schirmacher Oasis Ice Cave are red-ochre in color (Hoover and Pikuta, 2009, 2010). The possibility of life on Enceladus and the detection of biomarkers in the plumes of water, ice and organic chemicals ejected from the “Tiger Stripes” of Enceladus has been discussed by McKay et al., (2008) Hoover and Pikuta ( 2010) and in a number of articles published in volumes 5, 7, and 13 of the Journal of Cosmology.






Figure 8.a. Blue and white snow and glacial ice tiger stripes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus and b. ice bubbles from Lake Glubokoye, Antarctica. Color images from the Galileo spacecraft of c. the Conamara Chaos region and d. the Thrace region of Europa. Colonies of pigmented bacteria from the deep Greenland glacier ice core: e. red Herminiimonas glacei and f. yellow Chryseobacterium greenlandensis. From the McMurdo Valley ice sheet are colonies of g. red Rhodoglobus vestalii; and from the Schirmacher Oasis Ice Cave h. the red-ochre colony of Hymenobacter sp. strain IS118C-5s. Photos Courtesy: a.,c., & d. NASA/JPL/Arizona State University; b. R. B. Hoover; e.,f.,&g. Jennifer Loveland-Curtze/Penn State University and h. Asim K. Bej/UAB. 6. CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that the complex filaments found embedded in the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites represent the remains of indigenous microfossils of cyanobacteria and other prokaryotes associated with modern and fossil prokaryotic mats. Many of the Ivuna and Orgueil filaments are isodiametric and others tapered, polarized and exhibit clearly differentiated apical and basal cells. These filaments were found in freshly fractured stones and are observed to be attached to the meteorite rock matrix in the manner of terrestrial assemblages of aquatic benthic, epipelic, and epilithic cyanobacterial communities comprised of species that grow on or in mud or clay sediments. Filamentous cyanobacteria similar in size and detailed morphology with basal heterocysts are well known in benthic cyanobacterial mats, where they attach the filament to the sediment at the interface between the liquid water and the substratum. The size, size range and complex morphological features and characteristics exhibited by these filaments render them recognizable as representatives of the filamentous Cyanobacteriaceae and associated trichomic prokaryotes commonly encountered in cyanobacterial mats. Therefore, the well-preserved mineralized trichomic filaments with carbonaceous sheaths found embedded in freshly fractured interior surfaces of the Alais, Ivuna, and Orgueil CI1 carbonaceous meteorites are interpreted as the fossilized remains of prokaryotic microorganisms that grew in liquid regimes on the parent body of the meteorites before they entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy data reveals that the filaments detected in the meteorites typically exhibit external sheaths enriched in carbon infilled with minerals enriched in magnesium and sulfur. These results are interpreted as indicating that the organisms died on the parent body while aqueous fluids were present and the internal cells were replaced by epsomite and other water soluble evaporite minerals dissolved in the liquids circulating through the parent body. The nitrogen level in the meteorite filaments was almost always below the detection limit of the EDS detector (0.5% atomic). However, nitrogen is essential for all amino acids, proteins, and purine and pyrimidine nitrogen bases of the nucleotides of all life on Earth.
Extensive EDS studies of living and dead cyanobacteria and other biological materials have shown that nitrogen is detectable at levels between 2% and 18% (atomic) in cyanobacterial filaments from Vostok Ice (82 Kya) and found in stomach milk the mammoth Lyuba (40 Kya); mammoth hair/ tissue (40-32 Kya); pre-dynastic Egyptian and Peruvian mummies (5-2 Kya) and herbarium filamentous diatom sheaths (1815). However, Nitrogen is not detected in ancient biological materials such as fossil insects in Miocene Amber (8 Mya); Cambrian Trilobites from the Wheeler Shale (505 Mya) or cyanobacterial filaments from Karelia (2.7 Gya). Consequently the absence of nitrogen in the cyanobacterial filaments detected in the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites indicates that the filaments represent the remains of extraterrestrial life forms that grew on the parent bodies of the meteorites when liquid water was present, long before the meteorites entered the Earth’s atmosphere. This finding has direct implications to the distribution of life in the Cosmos and the possibility of microbial life in liquid water regimes of cometary nuclei as they travel within the orbit of Mars and in icy moons with liquid water oceans such as Europa and Enceladus.

Images and EDS Spectra of Filaments in the Ivuna CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorite.
http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html
Figure 1 provides images and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy elemental data for filaments found embedded in the Ivuna CI1 carbonaceous meteorite. Fig. 1.a is a FESEM image of a thin uniseriate filament that is flattened at the terminal end. The filament is cylindrical in the lower portion embedded in the meteorite rock matrix. This small, undulatory filament (diameter 0.7 to 1.0 m) is rich in C, Mg, and S and depleted in N. The filament is only partially encased within a broken and very thin carbonaceous sheath. EDS elemental data is shown for spot 1 on the thin sheath (Fig. 1.b) and for spot 3 on the nearby mineral matrix (Fig. 1.c). The sheath has higher carbon content and biogenic elements N and P are below the 0.5% detection limit of the instrument. Fig. 1.d is a FESEM image of 5m diameter X 25 m long spiral filament Ivuna with white globules that are sulfur-rich as compared with the rest of the filament and the meteorite matrix. A tuft of fine fibrils is visible at the left terminus of the filament and the terminus at the lower right is rounded. Fig. 1.e is a FESEM Backscattered Electron image of an Ivuna filament with sulfur-rich globules S and rounded terminus R that is similar in size and morphology to the giant bacterium “Titanospirillum velox”.

Fig. 1a. Ivuna CI1 meteorite filament (0.8 μm diameter) with dark lines C, partially encased in thin carbon-rich sheath.



Fig 1d. FESEM Backscattered Electron image of an Ivuna filament with N<0.5% and sulfur-rich globules S and rounded terminus R that is similar in size, morphology and internal composition to terrestrial bacteria (See e, below)

Fig 1e. Giant bacterium Titanospirillum velox. Image 1.e Courtesy: Dr. Riccardo Guerrero.

Fig. 1. a. Ivuna CI1 meteorite filament (0.8 μm diameter) with dark lines C, partially encased in thin carbon-rich sheath. b. EDS elemental data of the filament sheath at spot 1 shows typical biogenic elements Nitrogen and Phosphorus (<0.5%) and Carbon (13.1%) enriched as compared with nearby meteorite matrix (C 7.2%) at spot 3; d. FESEM Backscattered Electron image of an Ivuna filament with N<0.5% and sulfur-rich globules S and rounded terminus R that is similar in size, morphology and internal composition to (e.) giant bacterium Titanospirillum velox” with sulfur (S) globules collected from Microcoleus mat of Ebro Delta, Spain. (Scale bar = 5 μm) Ivuna Meteorite Courtesy: Dupont Meteorite Collection, Planetary Studies Foundation; Image 1.e Courtesy: Dr. Riccardo Guerrero. 3.1.1. Interpretation of Images and EDS Data of Ivuna Filaments. The flattened embedded filament shown in Fig. 1.a is interpreted as the permineralized remains of a partially uniseriate, undulatory, ensheathed trichomic prokaryote. The measured diameter (0.7 - 1.0 μm) as determined from the scale bar of this calibrated FESEM image and the detailed morphology of this Ivuna filament is consistent with some of the smaller filamentous cyanobacteria. The dark lines C near the terminus of the sheath are consistent with cross-wall constrictions that are often seen as faint transverse lines in FESEM images obtained with living cyanobacteria. In this image it is possible to see an extremely thin sheath S that is broken and covers only the upper portion of the trichome, which appears to have been completely replaced by infilling minerals.
The size and morphology of this filament is consistent with filaments of the undulatory trichomic filamentous cyanobacteria Spirulina subtilissima (filaments 0.6 - 0.9 μm diameter) and S. laxissima (filaments 0.7 to 0.8 μm diameter). These cyanobacteria have not been reported as possessing a sheath, but the sheath seen in this FESEM image is extremely thin and would be very difficult to discern in by visible light microscopy techniques. There are also very small species of the genus Limnothrix that are undulatory on nature and possess facultative sheaths. However, it shoud be pointed out that there also exist groups of ensheathed filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (photosynthetic flexibacteria) possess a thin sheath and are capable of gliding motility. There include filamentous representatives of the bacterial Phylum Chloroflexi. The thermophilic species Chloroflexus aurantiacus has a thin sheath and trichomes as narrow as 0.8 μm. There also other bacterial photoautotrophs that oxidize hydrogen sulfide and deposit it externally as sulfur (e.g., Oscillochloris trichoides) and these trichomic filaments have diameters in the 0.8 to 1.4 μm range.
The length, diameter and spiral configuration and apparent tuft of small filaments at one pole and rounded end at the other along with the internal sulfur globules distributed along the axis of filament (Fig. 1.d) found embedded in a freshly fractured surface of the Ivuna meteorite a complex suite of features.that are very similar to those observed in SEM images of the novel bipolar lophotrichous gram-negative bacterium “Titanospirillum velox” (Fig. 1.e) which was described by Guerrero et al (1999). “Titanospirillum velox” is a very large mat-forming bacterium with 3–5 μm diameter X 20–30 μm long filaments. It was collected from a mud sample beneath a Microcoleus chthonoplastes mat in the Ebro Delta in Tarragona, Spain. “T. velox” swims very rapidly (10 body lengths/sec) with spiral motility, propelled by the lophotrichous tuft of flagella at the cell terminus. The intracellular elemental sulfur storage globules are seen as white spots in this Scanning Electron Microscope image. This extremophile was grown only in mixed culture with other bacteria, which would explain the fact that this genus and species has not yet been accepted as validly published. The Bacteriological Code rules of nomenclature requires that prokaryotic microorganisms must be isolated and grown in pure culture and the designated type stain must be deposited in two international culture collections in two different countries before the genus and species names can be validated (Tindall et al., 2006). The absence of detectable nitrogen content the Ivuna filaments provides evidence that these embedded filaments are indigenous and cannot be dismissed as a modern biological contaminant.
3.2 Images and EDS Spectra of Filaments in the Orgueil CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorite. Figure 2.a. is a low magnification (1000X) Secondary Electron Detector (SED) FESEM image of freshly fractured fragment of the Orgueil CI1 meteorite that is densely populated with several different types of embedded filaments and electron transparent sheaths. Even though the field of view shown of this image is very small (~120 μm wide) a wide variety of diverse filamentous microstructures are present. To facilitate the description, the filaments and sheaths have been numbered, and all numbers are located on the filament at the site where the EDS elemental spot data were recorded. A 2D X-ray elemental map of this region of the Orgueil meteorite is shown in Figure 2.b. The large image in the upper left corner is a Backscatter Electron Detector (BSED) image. The bright spots in this image are high Z elements where clusters and crystallites of magnetite, iron and nickel are concentrated. Other images reveal where relative concentrations Oxygen, Silicon, Magnesium, Sulfur, Iron, Nitrogen; Calcium, and Aluminum are located. The major filaments and sheaths are clearly seen as bright features in the Carbon, Oxygen, Magnesium and Sulfur maps and they appear as dark features in Silicon, Iron, and Nickel due to the relatively higher content of these elements in the underlying Orgueil meteorite rock matrix. In general, the filament and sheath structures are not discernible in the Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sodium maps, although Filament 1 can be seen in the Nitrogen map. Empty sheath 7 is wrinkled and electron transparent with a relatively high (47%) content of Carbon. This sheath is unusual in that it is one of the few filaments found in the Orgueil meteorite to have detectable levels of Nitrogen (1%) and Phosphorus (0.8%).



Figure 2.a. Hitachi FESEM Secondary Electron Detector image at 1000 X of multiple filaments and sheaths embedded in Orgueil meteorite matrix and b. Backscatter Electron Detector image along with 2-D x-ray maps showing distribution of elements O, C, Si, N, Mg, S, Fe, P, F, Ca, Ni and Cl in filaments for comparison with SED and BSED images. Orgueil Sample Courtesy: Dr. Paul Sipiera, DuPont Meteorite Collection, Planetary Studies Foundation, Chicago Filaments 1 and 2 of Fig. 1.a are observed to have sheaths with longitudinal striations that run the length of the filaments. This is characteristic of multiseriate trichomic prokaryotic filaments in which multiple parallel oriented trichomes are enclosed within a common homogeneous sheath. These filaments are observed to be either attached to or physically embedded in the Orgueil meteorite matrix. The end of filament 1 becomes slightly wider (~10 μm) where it joins the rock matrix and it appears to contain four internal trichomes, each with a diameter ~2.5 μm. Filament 2 is considerable larger (~ 20 μm dia.) and the longitudinal striations suggest it contains ~5 trichomes, each with diameters ~4 μm/trichome. Faint transverse lines orthogonal to the long axis of filament 2 are marked C.
3.1.1 Interpretation and Discussion of Images and EDS Data of the Orgueil Filaments.
The longitudinal striations of the long filament 1 and the shorter, curved filament2 are interpreted as indicating these are multiseriate filaments consisting of a bundle of multiple parallel trichomes encased within a common sheath. If the transverse striations C of filament 2 are interpreted as represent cross-wall constrictions, this would indicate that the internal cells within each trichome are ~ 4 μm in length and hence isodiametric. Consequently, the image of filament 2 is interpreted as composed of trichomes made up of spherical or cylindrical isodiametric cells of 4 μm diameter. This interpretation is consistent with morphotypes of undifferentiated filamentous cyanobacteria of the Order Oscilliatoriacea. There are many genera and species within this very common cyanobacterial order, including the genus Microcoleus Desmazières ex Gomont (Form Genus VIII. Microcoleus Desmazières 1823) (Castenholz, Rippka & Herdman, 2001; Boone et al., 2001). Reproduction within this order occurs by trichome fragmentation and the production of undifferentiated short trichome segments (hormogonia) by binary fission of the cells in one plane at right angles to the long axis of the trichomes. The small solitary uniseriate filaments 3 and 4 may be interpreted as representing members of the genus Trichocoleus Anagnostidis, which was separated from the genus Microcoleus on the basis of cell size and morphology. Filament 4 is a 2 μm diameter hook-shape filament with a narrowed terminus. Several species of the genus Trichocoleus have filaments typically in the 0.5 μm to 2.5 μm diameter range (Wehr and Sheath, 2003, pg. 136). Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) spot spectral data were obtained on the meteorite rock matrix as well as on all of the numbered filaments and sheaths at positions where the numbers are located in the FESEM image.





Figure 3. Hitachi FESEM images at 1500X of a. collapsed filament 9 and helical coiled empty sheath 10 and b. 6000X image of filament 11 showing hook and calyptra or conical apical cell. c. EDS spot spectra show elemental compositions c. of loose sheath 10 (C 29.1%; N=0.7%) and d. sheath 11 (C 47.8%; N<0.5%). Figure 3.a is a1500X FESEM SED images of the collapsed Filament 9 and the hollow, flattened, twisted and folded sheath 10. Sheath 10 is 4.6 μm in diameter and it is folded at the top where the EDS spectra were taken. The flattened portion of Sheath 10 forms a spiral coil near the base where it is attached to the meteorite matrix. This is very similar to helical coiled sheath of Phormidium stagninum shown in the illustration at http://www.cyanodb.cz//Phormidium/Phormidium.jpg illustration. This type of flattened, coiled hollow sheath is often seen in other species of filamentous cyanobacteria and hence does not constitute a unique diagnostic feature. Figure 3.b. provides a higher magnification (6000X) image of Sheath 11, which is visible at the top of Fig. 2.a. Sheath 11 is a tapered and hooked form with a conical terminal cell or calyptra at the apex. It is 8.5 μm wide where it emerges from the rock matrix and it tapers to 1.5 μm diameter just after the sharp hook. Figure 3.c. is a 10 keV EDS spectrum taken at spot 10 in the fold of Sheath 10 and shows detection of low, but measurable level of Nitrogen (0.7%) and Phosphorus (0.3%) and higher levels of Iron (19%) and Silicon (14%), which are probably from the meteorite matrix beneath the this, electron transparent carbon-rich sheath. The EDS spectrum at 5 keV for spot 11 on sheath 11 as shown in (Fig. 3.d) reveals this flattened sheath to be highly carbonized (48% C atomic), This small filament appears as a bright feature in the carbon map of (Fig. 2.b) and as a dark shadow in the Magnesium and Sulfur maps as it crosses in front of large filaments more heavily mineralized with magnesium sulfate. Filament 11 is also sulfur-rich (21% S), but has Nitrogen below the level of detectability (< ~0.5%).
3.2 Orgueil Filaments with Differentiated Heterocysts. Several genera of the cyanobacterial orders Nostocales and Stigonometales use specialized cells known as “heterocysts” to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation is an unambiguously biological process that is absolutely crucial to all life on Earth. Although nitrogen comprises almost 78% of our atmosphere, it is completely useless to life in its relatively inert molecular form. The biological process of nitrogen fixation occurs by the reduction of gaseous nitrogen molecules (N₂) into ammonia, nitrates, or nitrogen dioxide. Many species of several genera of cyanobacteria (e.g., Anabaena, Nostoc, Calothrix, Rivularia, Scytonema, etc.) use highly specialized cells for nitrogen fixation by encapsulating the nitrogenase enzyme in thick-walled protective heterocysts.
Cyanobacteria play the key role in nitrogen fixation on Earth and many genera and species of are capable of diazotrophic growth and nitrogen metabolism. Nitrogen fixation occurs via the nitrogenase enzyme with some other proteins involved in this complex biological process. Since the activity of the nitrogenase enzyme is inhibited by oxygen the enzyme must be protected. In many species it is contained within the thick-walled specialized nitrogen-fixing cells called “heterocysts.” The heterocysts have very distinctive, thick, hyaline, refractive walls that provide well-protected centers in which the nitrogenase enzyme, which is inactivated by oxygen, can carry out its required activity.
Heterocysts of cyanobacteria produce three additional cell walls, including one with glycolipids that form a hydrophobic barrier to oxygen. This is crucial since cyanobacteria are aquatic photoautrophs that evolve oxygen during their photosynthesis. To provide additional protection, the cyanobacterial heterocysts lack photosystem II (Donze et al., 1972). Therefore the heterocysts produce no oxygen and they also up-regulate glycolytic enzymes and produce proteins that scavenge any remaining oxygen. As early as 1949, Fogg recognized that heterocysts are formed from the vegetative cells of the cyanobacteria when the concentration of ammonia or its derivative falls below a critical level and by 1968 it was becoming clear that the heterocysts were the site of nitrogen fixation (Fogg, 1949; Fay et al., 1968; Stewart et al., 1969). Heterocysts are found in cyanobacteria of the Order Nostocales and the Order Stigonematales, but they are never found in any of the genera or species of the other three orders (Chroococcales, Oscillatoriales, or Pleurocapsales). Furthermore, heterocysts have not been observed in any the known filamentous sulfur bacteria of any other trichomic prokaryotes. Consequently, the detection of heterocysts provides clear and convincing evidence that the filaments are not only unambiguously biological but that they belong to one of these two orders of cyanobacteria rather than trichomic ensheathed sulfur bacteria or any other group of filamentous trichomic prokaryotes. The presence or absence and the location and configuration of heterocysts has for a long time been a critical diagnostic tool for the recognition and classification of many important taxa of cyanobacteria. The FESEM image of the mineralized remains of polarized filaments interpreted as morphotypes of the cyanobacterium Calothrix spp. found embedded in the Orgueil CI1 carbonaceous meteorite. Several tapering filaments (diameter ~ 1 to 2.5 μm ) and recognizable enlarged cells are seen in close proximity to each other with the smooth basal heterocyst attached to the meteorite matrix (Fig. 4.a). For comparison, a FESEM image of a living Calothrix sp. with a diameter ~ 0.8 μm and basal heterocyst from White River, Washington is shown in Fig. 4.b.



Figure 4.a. FESEM image of permineralized remains in the Orgueil meteorite of polarized tapered filaments (diameter ~ 1 to 2.5 μm) with recognizable heterocysts interpreted as morphotypes of the cyanobacterium Calothrix spp. and. b. living filament of Calothrix sp. with a diameter ~ 0.8 μ and a basal heterocyst from the White River, Washington.


Figure 5. Long sinuous, helical coiled and polarized filament with conical apex (<1.3 μm) and terminal heterocyst similar to cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis sp. in the Orgueil meteorite and b. short embedded filament in Orgueil compared with c. living Tolypothrix distorta grown in pure culture at the NASA/NSSTC Astrobiology Laboratory. Orgueil Meteorite Sample Courtesy: Dr. Martine Rossignol-Strick, Musée Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris Figure 5.a is a Hitachi S4100 FESEM image of helical coiled polarized filament in Orgueil CI1 carbonaceous meteorite. The filament has a conical apex (<1.3 μm)at left end and a bulbous (2.3 μm diameter) heterocyst is seen at the other terminus. This filament has size and morphological characteristics of morphotypes of cyanobacteria of species of the genus Cylindrospermopsis. Fig. 5.b. is an image of a 2.5 μm diameter filament embedded in Orgueil. This filament has a 4.7 μm diameter bulbous terminal heterocyst and is interpreted as a morphotype of cyanobacteria of the genus Tolypothrix. Fig. 5.c is an image of a morphotype of living Nostocalean cyanobacterium Tolypothrix distorta shown for comparison.
Although many modern cyanobacteria are resistant to desiccation, they do not carry out active growth and mat building when they are in a dried state. However, it has been known since 1864 that the Orgueil meteorite is a microregolith breccia, comprised of minute particulates cemented together by water-soluble salts that are readily destroyed by exposure to liquid water. Therefore, it is suggested that none of the Orgueil samples could have ever been submerged in pools of liquid water needed to sustain the growth of large photoautotrophic cyanobacteria and required for the formation of benthic cyanobacterial mats since the meteorite arrived on Earth. Many of the filaments shown in the figures are clearly embedded in the meteorite rock matrix. Consequently, it is concluded that the Orgueil filaments cannot logically be interpreted as representing filamentous cyanobacteria that invaded the meteorite after its arrival. They are therefore interpreted as the indigenous remains of microfossils that were present in the meteorite rock matrix when the meteorite entered the Earth’s atmosphere. EDS elemental analyses carried out on the meteorite rock matrix and on living and fossil cyanobacteria and old and ancient biological materials have shown that the Orgueil filaments have elemental compositions that reflect the composition of the Orgueil meteorite matrix but that are very different from living and old microorganisms and biological filaments. Recently dead cyanobacteria and living cyanobacteria and other modern extremophiles are usually damaged by exposure to the focused FESEM electron beam during EDS analysis of small spots. This beam damage behavior was not observed in the Orgueil filaments or in Devonian, Cambrian, or Archaean fossils investigated. The C/N and C/S ratios of the Orgueil filaments are similar to fossilized materials and kerogens but very different from living biological matter, providing further evidence that the Orgueil filaments are not modern biological contaminants.

Comets as Parent Bodies of CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites.
http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html
The CI1 carbonaceous meteorites are jet-black stones that contain indigenous extraterrestrial water. The albedo of the Orgueil meteorite is extremely low (~0.05) and comparable to that of the very dark C-type asteroids and the nuclei of comets. This is blacker than asphalt which has an albedo of ~ 0.07. The European Space Agency Halley Multicolor Camera aboard the Giotto Spacecraft obtained images at the closest approach (00:03:01.84 UT on March 14, 1986) at a distance of 596 km from the centre of the nucleus revealing detailed topographic features on the black (albedo 0.04) surface and jets Lamarre et al. (1986) reported that IKS-Vega data indicated the temperature of nucleus of comet Halley was 420 K +/- 60K at 0.8 A.U which was consistent with “a thin layer of porous black material covering the comet nucleus.” The Deep Space 1 spacecraft found the 8 km long nucleus of Comet 19P/Borrelly to be very hot (~345 K) with prominent jets aligned with the orientation of the rotation axis of the nucleus and albedo of 0.01 to 0.03 (Soderbloom et al. 2002). Ices of water, carbon dioxide, methane and other volatiles in the cold nucleus in proximity to the hot crust would melt and then boil to produce high pressure beneath the crust if gas is released faster than it can escape through the porous crust. In regions where the pressure exceeds the strength of the crust, localized failure of portions of the crust could result in explosive release of the gas giving rise to the observed flaring of comets and the dramatic jets.
Once a comet enters the inner solar system, it becomes hot from solar radiation on the black nucleus and loses mass rapidly. The European Space Agency Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) showed that water was the primary volatile (75-80 %) of the 40-50 km diameter nucleus of Comet Hale-Bopp. Minor volatile fractions detected (CH₄, NH₃ and H₂CO) could have come from clathrates (H₂O ice with simple gasses like CO₂ and NH₃ in a stable lattice structure) or result from atmospheric chemistry. ISO found that Hale-Bopp released water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide at a rate of 2 x 10⁹ kg/sec and detected olivine in the dust. Olivine is commonly encountered in meteorites. As comets lose ices they develop an inert outer crust from the less volatile material. The nuclei of comets are extremely complex – they exhibit rugged terrain, smooth rolling plains, deep fractures and are composed of very dark material. This black crust becomes very hot while the comet is in the inner regions of the Solar System.


Figure 7.a. Deep Space 1 image of Comet P/Borrelly with jets of gas and dust; b. Deep Impact image of nucleus of Comet 9P/Temple 1 shows regions of exposed water ice and c. temperature map from Deep Impact IR spectra d. Giotto Halley Multicolor Camera (HMC) image showing jets emanating from of the 0.04 albedo nucleus of Comet P/Halley Image Courtesy: Max Plank Institute for Solar System Research http://www.mps.mpg.de/en/projekte/giotto/hmc/; e. Deep Impact spacecraft extended mission (EPOXI) image of the nucleus of comet Hartley 2 showing jets of dust and gas. Image Courtesy: NASA/JPL UMD). Figure 7.a. is a NASA Deep Space 1 spacecraft composite false color image showing geyser-like jets erupting from the long prolate nucleus (8 km) of comet 19P/Borrelly on Sept. 22, 2001. (The colors indicate three orders of magnitude in light level (red is 1/10, blue 1/100 and purple 1/1000 the intensity of the comet nucleus). The red bumps on the nucleus are real and show where the main jet resolves into three distinct narrow jets coming from distinct sources on the comet nucleus. These narrow jets are entirely consistent with the hypothesis that internal pressures generated by steam produced by melting of internal ices which then boil into gases as they are vaporized as heat conducts through hot crust. The NASA Deep Impact probe obtained the valuable data about the nature of comets as it approached and when the impactor collided with the nucleus of comet 9/P Temple 1 on July 4, 2005. Fig. 7.b is a Deep Impact image of the nucleus of comet Temple 1. The regions shown in blue are where exposed deposits of water ice that were detected on the surface of the comet nucleus Sunshine et al. (2005). These water ice regions ere observed to be ~30% brighter than the surrounding areas and probably were exposed when portions of the black crust was blown off into space by the explosive eruptions such as were recorded in a video by the spacecraft. The Deep Impact measurements of the temperature profile of comet P/Temple 1 nucleus at 1.5 AU is shown in Figure 7.c. Even as far away from the Sun as Mars the jet-black comet nucleus reaches temperatures as high as 330 K (57 oC). Furthermore, the lowest temperatures measured on the crust were ~ 280 K (7 oC) which is slightly above the temperature at which water ice changes from solid to liquid phase. Prior to the impact, the ambient outgassing of Temple 1 was ~6x10²⁷ molecules/s of water. However, the free sublimation of ice calculated above (~200 K) was only ~4.5 x 10²¹ molecules/m²/s indicating that the ambient outgassing had significant subsurface sources. The Deep Impact spacecraft also observed numerous events of flaring of the nucleus and eruption of geyser-like jets as the comet was approached and before the collision of the impactor. On November 4, 2010, the NASA EPOXI extended mission of the Deep Impact Spacecraft passed within 435 miles of the 2.2 km long nucleus of comet Hartley 2 and revealed bright jets of carbon dioxide gas and dust.
These observations of comets are consistent with the hypothesis that the comet crust impedes the flow of gasses such that pressures develop as ices melt and vaporize in pockets and cavities beneath the crust. This provides the pressures needed to allow water to transition from the solid to the liquid state and then into the gaseous state. This would create micro-niches with pools of liquid water trapped within pockets in rock and ice, very much analogous to the cryoconite and ice bubble ecosystems contained psychrophilic microbial extremophiles such as those described from the glaciers and frozen Pleistocene thermokarst ponds of Alaska and Siberia and the glaciers and perennially ice covered lakes of the Schirmacher Oasis and Lake Untersee in East Antarctica (Hoover, 2008; Hoover and Pikuta, 2010; Pikuta et al. 2005). If gas is produced faster than it can escape through the porous crust, it could high pressures resulting in localized failure of weaker portions of the crust and the violent eruption into space of carbon dioxide, water vapor and chunks of crust and particles of ice and dust propelled into space and directed into the dust tail of the comet. These dust particulates could give rise to meteor showers as the comet passes through the tail. From time to time, larger chunks of the ejected may survive passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and this could be the link between comets and the CI1 (and possibly the CM2) carbonaceous meteorites. The fact that the CI1 meteorites contain minerals that were extensively altered by liquid water on the parent body and that the stones have been found to contain a large amount of indigenous extraterrestrial water clearly establishes that their parent bodies were most likely comets or water-bearing asteroids. It is now well known that the black nuclei of comets get very hot (significantly above >273 K where water ice melts) as they approach the Sun.
Gounelle et al. (2006) used the eyewitness accounts to compute the atmospheric trajectory and orbit of the Orgueil meteoroid and concluded that the orbital plane was close to the ecliptic and that entry into the atmosphere took place at a height of approximately 70 km and an angle of ~20°. Their calculations indicated the meteoroid terminal height was ~20 km and the pre-atmospheric velocity was > 17.8 km/sec. They found the aphelion to be 5.2 AU (the semi-major axis of orbit of Jupiter) and perihelion ~0.87 AU, which is just inside the Earth's orbit as would be expected for an Earth-crossing meteorite. This calculated orbit suggests the Apollo Asteroids and the Jupiter-family of comets are likely candidates for the Orgueil parent body include (although Halley-type comets are not excluded).
The cosmochemistry data for a cometary parent body is entirely consistent with the composition and characteristics of the CI1 meteorites. This suggestion that the parent body of the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites were possibly comets is significant with regard to possible existence of indigenous microfossils in the Alais, Ivuna and Orgueil meteorites. From the extensive evidence of aqueous alteration on the Orgueil parent body and the presence of indigenous water in the Orgueil meteorite it is clear that the parent body was either a water-bearing asteroid or a comet. However the Giotto and Vega observations of Halley and the Deep Impact Observations of the nucleus of 9P/Temple-1 have clearly established that these bodies get very hot as they enter the inner regions of the Solar System. It is now clear that any water bearing asteroid with an albedo of the Orgueil meteorite would reach a temperature above 100 C at 1AU. At these temperatures, water ice and other volatiles would be converted to liquid water, steam, and produce an expanding cloud of gas and expelled particulates. Any planetessimal orbiting the Sun and possessing a gaseous envelope and dust tail is traditionally refered to as “comet” rather than an asteroid, and therefore it seems logical that comets represent the most probable parent bodies for these water rich, black meteorites that travel in trajectories that cross the orbit of planet Earth.
4.6 Role of Comets and Carbonaceous Meteorites in the Origin and Evolution of the Earth’s Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere The relationship of comets with carbonaceous meteorites and their role in the origin and evolution of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere of Earth has become better understood during the past few decades. The cratered surface of the moon provides clear evidence of the intense Hadean bombardment of the inner planets and moons by comets, asteroids and meteorites during the early history of the Solar System. Watson and Harrison (2005) interpreted the crystallization temperatures of 4.4 Ga Zircons from Western Australia as providing evidence that liquid water oceans were present on the early Earth within 200 million years of the formation of the Solar System. It has recently become more widely recognized that comets played a crucial role in the formation of the atmosphere and oceans of early Earth during the Hadean bombardment (Delsemme, 1997; Steel, 1998; Owen, 1997).
In 1978, Sill and Wilkening proposed that comets may have delivered life-critical biogenic elements carbon and nitrogen trapped within clathrate hydrates in their icy nuclei. In the same year, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe (1978, 1981, 1982, 1985) have proposed that comets delivered not only water, biogenic elements and complex organic chemicals to the surface of planet Earth, but that they also delivered intact and viable microorganisms. The detection of microfossils of cyanobacteria and other filamentous trichomic prokaryotes in the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites (which are likely cometary crustal remnants) may be interpreted as direct observational data in support of the Hoyle/Wickramasinghe Hypothesis (Wickramasinghe 2011) of the role of comets in the exogenous origin of terrestrial life.

Eberhardt et al. (1987) measured the deuterium/hydrogen ratios in the water of comet P/Halley. Delsemme (1998) found that that the D/H ratio of the water molecules of comets Halley, Hale–Bopp and Hyakutake were consistent with a cometary origin of the oceans. Dauphas et al., (2000) interpreted the deuterium/hydrogen ratios indicate that the delivery of water and ice to the early Earth during the late Hadean heavy bombardment by comets, asteroids and meteorites helped to cool the Earth’s crust and form the early oceans. Table V shows data extracted from the Robert et al. (2000) compilation of Deuterium/Hydrogen ratios of selected components of the Cosmos.
When these bodies are grouped in accordance with their D/H ratio it is easily seen that the telluric inner planets and the LL3 (stony) and SNC (Mars) meteorites have high (~500-16,000) ratios and the gas giants, protosolar nebula, ISM and Galaxies are very low (~15-65). The D/H ratios of the comets (~290-330) and carbonaceous meteorites (~180-370) are much closer to that of Earth (~149) and support the hypothesis that they may have made significant contributions to the formation of the oceans of our planet. It is interesting that the D/H ratios of comets are very similar to the ratios measured in the kerogen, amino acids and carboxylic acids of the Orgueil (CI) and other (CM, CV, and CR) carbonaceous meteorites. This supports the view that although stony meteorites are most probably derived from rocky asteroids, the carbonaceous meteorites most probably are derived from water-bearing asteroids or the nuclei of comets. The 30 m diameter fast-spinning carbonaceous asteroid 1998 KY26 that was discovered on June 2, 1998 has been found to contain 10-20% water. However, the small carbonaceous, water-rich asteroid 1998 KY26 also has color and radar reflectivity similar to carbonaceous meteorites and it may be a spent comet. Near IR observations indicated the presence of crystalline water ice and ammonia hydrate on the large Kuiper Belt object (50000) Quaoar with resurfacing suggesting cryovolcanic outgassing. The Cassini/Huygens spacecraft has recently obtained data indicating that a vast liquid water ocean may also exist beneath the thick frozen crust of Titan. Cassini/Huygens has also detected evidence for cryovolcanic water-ice geysers on Titan and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

The Discovery of Alien Extra-Terrestrial Life: The Cosmic Origins of Life [Hardcover]

Richard Hoover (Author), C. N. Wickramasinghe (Author), R. Joseph (Author), Rudy Schild (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982955294?tag=cosmology07-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0982955235&adid=1QVQKFB4AASR58KQTQN0&

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2011

We Are Not Alone! In 2007 NASA approved for publication the discovery of microfossils in three meteors. After years and months of careful preparation and peer review, this landmark paper was published and on March 5, 2011, and the world was stunned to learn of the discovery of ancient extraterrestrial life; fossils of Cyanobacteria in meteors older than Earth.

The discovery of Cyanobacteria is of particular importance. It is Cyanobacteria which helped create the oxygen atmosphere of this planet. Oxygen interacts with sunlight to produce radiation shielding ozone. Cyanobacteria also secrete calcium when creating their mats, and this calcium made it possible for shells, bones, and the skeletal system to evolve.

Cyanobacteria are a hardy species, and can live in extreme  environments. Therefore, if Cyanobacteria came from and are deposited on Earthlike planets, it can be assumed they had or would also biologically engineer these alien worlds, providing them with an oxygen atmosphere and flooding the environment with calcium, thereby making it possible for life to evolve into intelligent species, similar to or completely different from, and possibly more intelligent than woman and man.

We are not alone.

In 1584, Giordano Bruno published “Of Infinity, the Universe, and the World” and wrote ”There are innumerable suns and an infinite number of planets which circle around their suns as our seven planets circle around our Sun”.  According to Bruno, we are unable to see these planets and suns” because of their great distance or small mass. ”On February 19, 1600 Bruno was tortured and burned at the stake by the Inquisition for publishing these claims which contradicted established ”scientific” dogma.

The publication of Richard Hoover's paradigm shattering discovery of microfossils within carbonaceous meteorites, unleashed an ugly storm of violent, histrionic invective not seen since the Middle Ages when they burned scientists for making discoveries that threatened the established order.

This is The Book, they do not want you to read.

We are not alone. That landmark paper, by Richard Hoover of NASA, is the lead chapter and is accompanied by chapters featuring critical commentary written by top scientists throughout the world, as well as speculation about the implications of life, its origins, and evolution throughout the cosmos. Consider the implications:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1)    <!--[endif]-->There is evidence of biological activity in this planet's oldest rocks, which means life was present on Earth from the very beginning.

2) Two separate teams of scientists have determined, based on a genomic analysis, that DNAbased life has a genetic ancestry leading backwards in time over 10 billion years, which is twice the age of Earth.

3) Dozens of studies have proven conclusively that microbes can survive the ejection from and crash landing onto a planet surface and a journey through space.

4) The implications are that life on Earth, came from other planets, and these first life forms included cyanobacteria.

The implications are staggering. It can be assumed life is everywhere and has a cosmic ancestry extending backwards in time, interminably into the long ago, and that intelligent life has evolved on countless Earth-like planets. Life must have evolved on innumerable worlds which are much older than Earth, evolving beyond the humans of Earth before our planet was even formed. Great extra-terrestrial

technologically advanced civilizations likely ring the cosmos, including on planets billions of years older than our own.

All this and more is included in the chapters of this amazing book:

Our ancient ancestors journeyed here from the stars.

FBI memo: Roswell saucers were real

Cylon Raider or algae? Swedish booze hunters may have made the UFO find of the century

• From: news.com.au
• July 21, 2011 9:29AM

Team Ocean Explorer said this image shows 300m "drag marks". Picture courtesy Ocean Explorer/Peter Lindberg Source: Supplied

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/cylon-raider-or-algae-swedish-booze-hunters-may-have-made-the-ufo-find-of-the-century/story-fn5fsgyc-1226098833887#ixzz1UiObJJn2

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/cylon-raider-or-algae-swedish-booze-hunters-may-have-made-the-ufo-find-of-the-century/story-fn5fsgyc-1226098833887#ixzz1UiNtM0i4

Ghost city appears above Xin'an River

• By staff writers
• From: news.com.au
• June 27, 2011 7:00AM
  
  Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/mirage-of-a-city-appears-in-huanshan-city-in-east-china/story-fn5fsgyc-1226082498230#ixzz1UiMzXppg

Tall buildings miraculously appeared on the normally clear Xin'an River. Picture: ITN Source: Supplied

The mirage appeared after heavy rainfall. Picture: ITN Source: Supplied

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• City appears over Chinese river
• Residents think it's a "vortex"
• Scientists say it's a great mirage

IT looks like any other city skyline with skyscrapers, a few mountains and trees - except it isn't real.

The giant mirage appeared across the skyline near in East China earlier this month after heavy rainfall and humid conditions along the Xin’an River.
As mist settled over the river at dusk, tall buildings appeared to rise from nowhere, leading residents in nearby Huanshan City to speculate that the vision may be a "vortex" to a lost civilisation.
Scroll down to see amazing footage of the ghost city
"It's really amazing, it looks like a scene in a movie, in a fairlyland," one resident told UK news channel ITN.
The mysterious city had vanished just as quickly as it had come.
Scientists have quashed the vortex theory and, as per usual, have a simple explanation for the incredible sight.
They believe it may have been a mirage, caused when moisture in the air becomes warmer than the temperature of the water below.
When rays of sunlight cross from the colder air into the warmer air they are refracted or bent – creating a reflection in the air that looks similar to a reflection in water.
It's a common sight for many travellers on Australian roads. But we Australians tend to see puddles of water that disappear when you get close, not entire cities floating on rivers.

Australian meteorite behind 'space DNA' discovery

• By Claire Connelly
• From: news.com.au
• August 10, 2011 4:45PM

Researchers have discovered some of the building blocks of DNA found on meteorites actually came from space. Picture: NASA Source: Supplied

A METEORITE which crashed in Australia more than four decades ago has led to a major new discovery about the nature of humankind.

Writers and filmmakers have for decades hypothesised about little green men "out there" somewhere, but it turns out alien life may actually exist closer to home.
Much, much closer.
NASA overnight said researchers had discovered that some of the building blocks of DNA found in meteorites were actually created in space — lending weight to the idea that life on Earth began with materials from the cosmos.
Scientists were previously unsure if the meteorites had brought the materials with them, or been "contaminated" by humans or animals after landing.
Dr Michael Callahan of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Centre said it was the famous Murchison meteorite which led to the discovery.

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"There's a meteorite that landed in 1969 in Murchison in Victoria. It's actually the most well studied meteorite for organic molecules," he told news.com.au.
"It's kind of like the benchmark meteorite that people look at for organic molecules."
To prove the meteorites hadn't been contaminated, Dr Callahan and his team looked at soil and ice samples from near the Murchison crash site and another in Antarctica.
"We compared terrestrial samples to our meteorite result and they looked very different," he said.
"It's kind of given us another clue that these compounds looked indigenous to the meteorite and it’s not something like contamination."
Dr Callahan said he was stunned to have stumbled upon another missing piece of the puzzle of life's origins.
"I was shocked," he said.
"I was very surprised. I didn't believe it at first. I didn't think my result was real.
"I took a lot of time to verify the results, through lots of control samples and state of the art analysis. It took me about a year to convince myself that was I was looking was real, but it was."
Dr Callahan's discovery has led some to question whether other planets might contain the same building blocks for life as those that exist on Earth, however the scientist said it was not a given.
"The likelihood of life elsewhere, the possibility does increase a little bit," he said.
"(However) it takes a lot of steps to go from building blocks to life."