LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Extraterrestrial Life: Ideas
built 132 days ago
[P]anspermia fell out of favor, as did many ideas about extraterrestrial life, when Mariner 9 returned images of Mars showing it to be a rocky, desolate wasteland. For two decades panspermia was not not widely supported, but gradually over the last decade panspermia has become scientifically fashionable again. Astronomers have discovered increasingly complex organic molecules in interstellar clouds, and in 1996 geologists announced the discovery of structures within a Martian meteorite that appeared to of biologic origin. That claim has since been largely refuted, but just last week another Martian meteorite was announced that supposedly contains unusual compounds and structures that indicate extraterrestrial life activity.
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This is the first detailed, scholarly study in English of the astronomical, philosophical, and religious ideas that developed between 1750 and 1900 regarding the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. The author examines the roles ofprominent figures such as Kant, Herschel, Paine, and Lowell in the issue. 16 illustrations.
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Though scientists are sometimes insular and overly-conservative, if firm evidence of extraterrestrial life exists it would have been promptly published. After all, such a publication would assure eternal fame for both the scientists and the journal itself. Until more convincing evidence emerges, panspermia will remain an idea slightly on the fringes of science, but firmly within the mainstream of the paranormal.
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