Comet evidence supports theory of cosmic life

The findings from the Rosetta mission continue to show consistency with the theory developed by the late Sir Fred Hoyle and the present writer over the past four decades, that life is a cosmic phenomenon. Our first steps in this theory were taken in 1974/1975 when we published papers arguing for the presence of formaldehyde polymers in space as well as in comets.

Formaldehyde polymers (polyoxymethylene) have now been reported as present in Comet 67P/C-G. In our further development of these ideas we arrived at the view that much of what is now seen in comets such as Comet 67P/C-G represents the breakdown products of biology, rather than prebiotic seeds of life.

The search for alien intelligence (SETI) that has been conducted over half a century is also relevant. The negative results are a disappointment. It might be argued that more investment is needed, and this must be the thinking behind Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s $100bn initiative ( Independent 21 July). Buying more telescope time, increasing the range of wavelengths being scanned, enhancing detector sensitivity and extending sky coverage have been argued as prerequisites if a breakthrough within a decade is to be achieved.

The idea that life as we know it on Earth springs up de novo on billions of Earth-like habitable planets (even if seeded by complex organics from comets such as 67P/C-G) is unproven and most likely erroneous. There is no hard experimental evidence to support it. Only if life is a cosmic phenomenon, with its genetic components in the form of bacteria and viruses being continually exchanged over a cosmic scale, could we expect life to exist everywhere, with a pattern of evolution that leads inevitably to high levels of intelligence. This process known as panspermia must be a prerequisite if a positive result is to follow from Milner’s SETI enterprise.

Evidence that has accumulated over the past decade has pointed unerringly towards validating the theory of panspermia, particularly inward panspermia – microbial life arriving at the Earth at the present time.

A far more modest investment than Milner’s, perhaps on the scale of less than a million dollars, would serve to establish beyond doubt that Earthlife is indeed intimately connected to a vast cosmic reservoir of genes. That would be the first step in establishing that we are not alone in the Universe. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe Director, Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, Buckingham University