(227) Fri 27 Dec 96 9:46 By: Mimi Milstein Re: Life on Earth I noticed with amusement a he

(227)   Fri 27 Dec 96  9:46
By: Mimi Milstein
Re: Life on Earth

I noticed with amusement a headline today in our local morning
paper Business Day - "New Theory on Life Raises Stink".

Dr Andrei Arkhipov, of the Institute of Radio Astronomy in
Kharkiv, Ukraine, has theorized that the ultimate origin of
life on Earth began with microbes which had come through the
atmosphere as lumps of alien waste.

Using our own space programs as an example of deep space
pollution Dr Arkhipov said: "Freeze-dried spores in drops
of rocket fuel and human faecal matter from our space crafts
are quite well adapted to interstellar travel".

His theory has already created a stir among religious
commentators, with the Catholic Church sounding least
shocked. Nicholas Coote representing the view of the
Catholic Bishops' Conference in Britain said the alien
dung theory was ultimately not very different from that
of the biblical account of an origin from dust.

Rev Clive Calver, director-general of the Evangelical
Alliance was, however, upset. "First we read that we are
the creation of God - then the scientists say we are
descended from apes. Now we are some sort of alien poo!
How much further can we sink?"

I must say Doc Arkhipov is a bit late out with his
'news'. Robert Silverberg incorporated exactly the same
thing in his book "The Masks of Time" in 1968 - even to
the reactions of the religious faction :-)

... Greetings from Mimi
--- timEd 1.01
 * Origin: The Purdah - don't even TRY to knock... Randbg, SA (5:7107/21)