Mon March 11, 2013 Claims Of A Meteorite's Ancient Aquatic
Fossils Spark Debate A meteorite that lit the sky over Sri Lanka
with a yellow and green flame when it fell to earth on Dec. 29,
2012, contains "fossilized biological structures," according to
researchers in Britain, Sri Lanka, and the United States.
Elaborating on claims they first made in January, the scientists
are also seeking to answer critics who are skeptical of their
findings. The team, led by Jamie Wallis of Cardiff University
and Chandra Wickramasinghe, director of the Buckingham Center
for Astrobiology, says that electron microscope images depict
what look to be microscopic diatoms, a form of algae, along with
other structures in fragments of the meteorite. Such a finding
would bolster the theory of "panspermia," which Wickramasinghe
helped develop, and which posits that asteroids and other bodies
spread tiny tidbits of life as they travel through space. The
study released Monday is based on a sample that was gathered by
police and examined