2013-09-23, 02:01 PM
Microorganisms in the stratosphere is nothing new or exciting. This paper details novel species found at up to 41km in altitude.
http://ijs.sgmjournals.org/content/59/12/2977.long
http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC22/MILT..._final.pdf
The research methods used in this is pretty substandard actually. It's not a surprise they had to publish in a less than well known journal. Their method of sterilization was terrible. Air-blasting and swabbing with alcohol is a not even close to what a study like this needs for sterility. I'm surprised they didn't autoclave it. The other paper even UV sterilized their collection tubes and tested two of them for contamination. Their statement of "because of the very low temperatures and high exposure to UV radiation, such biological entities would not be alive in the stratosphere" is completely incorrect. Their citations are mostly papers published by the same freaking author. This paper is a mess of leaps of faith and inconclusive evidence. They didn't even do any real analysis, they just looked at it under a microscope and said "yep that looks like life". Nothing to see here folks, it's not even peer reviewed.
http://ijs.sgmjournals.org/content/59/12/2977.long
http://journalofcosmology.com/JOC22/MILT..._final.pdf
The research methods used in this is pretty substandard actually. It's not a surprise they had to publish in a less than well known journal. Their method of sterilization was terrible. Air-blasting and swabbing with alcohol is a not even close to what a study like this needs for sterility. I'm surprised they didn't autoclave it. The other paper even UV sterilized their collection tubes and tested two of them for contamination. Their statement of "because of the very low temperatures and high exposure to UV radiation, such biological entities would not be alive in the stratosphere" is completely incorrect. Their citations are mostly papers published by the same freaking author. This paper is a mess of leaps of faith and inconclusive evidence. They didn't even do any real analysis, they just looked at it under a microscope and said "yep that looks like life". Nothing to see here folks, it's not even peer reviewed.