National Geographic News reported yesterday that we could have alien origins. This theory is founded in the fact that scientists sent fossilized microscopic life-forms into space and back inside an artificial meteorite. The rock was attached to the outside of the European Space Agency's Foton M3 spacecraft. The rock was sculpted from stone from the Orkney Islands in Scotland and contained fossilized microbes and molecular signatures of microbes. The rock measured 2.8 inches across and was fitted to the exterior of Foton M3. Living microbes probably wouldn't survive in a meteorite this size, as the rock came back unshielded. The fake meteorite was exposed to temperatures reaching to about 392 degrees Fahrenheit. If the rock was bigger (about 8 inches across), scientists say that the temperature would not penetrate to the middle. This means that anything inside could survive. Scientists will know examine the rock and decide whether meteors from outer space can give rides to hitchhiking microbes. Whether exchange of life has ever occurred is a more complex question and will be examined further.
The article can be found here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071112-space-rock.html
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