London: Planet Venus, written off for any sign of life, has
microbes in its atmosphere which may well be reaching earth
every 580 days, a Sri Lankan scientist has claimed. "According
to the latest research, the planet Venus has a microbial ecology
high in its atmosphere," Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe of
Cardiff University said Wickramasinghe, a leading authority of
the theory of "Panspermia" that says life on earth originated in
deep space and travelled here hitch-hiking on comets, said the
research was conducted by him and daughter Janaki
Wickramasinghe. Delivering the keynote address at the Annual
General Meeting of the Association of Professional Sri Lankans
in Britain at Baylis House in Slough, he said: "Every 580 days
when the Sun, Venus and Earth are in a line, microbes from Venus
can be transferred to Earth. "The planets Venus, Earth, Mars are
surely interconnected biologically and life on earth represents
a connected chain of being that extends to the remotest corners
of the cosmos," he said. The