Talk:Red rain in Kerala

An entry from Red rain in Kerala appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 8 March, 2006.

Wikipedia

What a shame there's no way to get a mention of the Peter Gabriel song in this article (But I'll link from that one back to here). Daniel Case 16:29, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

==Red rain in popular culture== ...? (I'm joking, of course!) Worldtraveller 22:53, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fungal spores?

Contrary to the article various press releases say that the red material in the rain was identified as fungal spores.

Those links say 'tentatively' identified. Sheffield University are conducting tests at the moment. Worldtraveller 17:37, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, yes. And we all know that the explanation that includes ~~Santa Claus~~ visiting life from outerspace should be given at least equal treatment to that which relies most heavily on known entities (such as fungal spores). Gamahucheur 18:32, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Looking forward to seeing how the analysis turns out. As the releases note, even if they are something as common as earthly fungus, there are loads of questions to be answered here.168.224.1.14 11:02, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"Various press releases" posted on a website called "UFO India" do not inspire much confidence in me as to their accuracy. Are there any other references available? PPF2006

You betcha: Indian Express. Gamahucheur 19:14, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Do you guys mean actually Red Rain happening in Kerela, how is it possible?? Can somebody describe this term Red Rain to me. I know I might sound dumb but I need to go deep down the roots:)Bold text

Science?

If the "Did you know" teaser is going to invoke a scientific explanation, then would someone please cite a peer-reviewed scientific article of the findings? Lindenb 17:18, 8 March 2006 (UTC)lindenb[reply]

We have done - in the references, you'll find a paper by Louis & Kumar which is accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science. Worldtraveller 17:37, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Graffitipedia

Yes, the inevitable, inexorable failure of Wikipedia continues. Gamahucheur 17:27, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Care to elaborate? And don't be calling people 'dorks' in edit summaries - it's incredibly rude. Worldtraveller 17:37, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The elaboration is that Wikipedia cannot effectively shield itself from incompetent posters; as its popularity grows, it attracts articles such as this, written by someone who cannot recognize and organize theories according to underlying plausibility. And what was truly rude was blowing-off the rules of English punctuation in your posting here. In future, run your work past someone who knows the differences amongst the marks of punctuation. Gamahucheur 18:26, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I like this one better. — Omegatron 19:19, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

So did I, for that matter. Gamahucheur 19:26, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

:-) The thing about this article is that it wouldn't even exist if not for the crazy outer space theories. It's pretty unbiased considering its cause of notability. — Omegatron 19:47, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No, the article is entitled “Red rain in Kerala”, not “Extraterrestrial theory of the red rain in Kerala”. Hence, its relative treatment of theories is quite inappropriate. Gamahucheur 20:27, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Gamahucheur - read WP:CIVIL. Worldtraveller 20:12, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Worldtraveller– No article in Wikipedia is going to trump the basic facts of what is civility. You don't understand the function of civility, and this makes you unable to recognize what is and isn't civil. BTW, it is uncivil for you to put your note in the wrong sub-thread. Gamahucheur 20:27, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Gamahucheur– Please cease your violations of Wikipedia's official civility policy. It is undermining to the serious discussion of a very interesting subject. Thank you. PPF2006

If you don't want this argument (long ago reduced to a tangent about civility) to continue, then don't continue it. The ostensible incivility about which you are complaining is continuing exactly and only because Worldtraveller and you insist on making untenable claims about civility. Your pursuit of some sort of pile-on victory in it is just one more act of true incivility. Gamahucheur 16:20, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

But until further tests show DNA, or some other plausible explanation, this explanation is plausible. We know that bacteria from Earth are floating in the rest of the solar system, if only because they hitched a ride on our equipment. What's implausible about them already being there? Personally, I think they sound like red blood cells, but don't think a cloud of red blood cells surviving that long, leaving no other traces of animal, is more plausible than bacteria hitching a ride.

Incidentally, this article seems to be largely based on the New Scientist article last week, not going as far as plagiarising obviously, but the fact-base seems to be the same. The NS article had more pictures and diagrams, of course. 57.66.51.165 19:59, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Plausibility is subject, at the very least, to a partial ordering. No one here has claimed that the extraterrestrial explanation is impossible; so, yes, you could say that it has some plausibility. The fact that there is some chance that the red rain was caused by extra-terrestrial life shouldn't place that theory on an equal footing with every other theory; nor, in the course of an article about the red rain per se, should it be the principal theory. (If, on the other hand, the article were entitled “Extraterrestrial theory of the red rain in Kerala”, it would make perfect sense to focus on the extraterrestrial theory.) My earlier reference to Santa Claus was advisedly made; there remains some tiny chance that there is a Santa Claus (granted that it is far smaller than the chance of extraterrestrial microbes making their way to Earth) and that he was responsible for the red rain; but we don't give such explanation equal or superior footing. Gamahucheur 20:27, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Panspermia is a theory considered reasonable by many in the scientific community. Santa Claus is a fictional character. Please limit your discussion points to those of a serious and well-reasoned nature. Thank you. PPF2006

It would be a fine exercise for you to attempt to prove that Santa Claus does not exist. The existence of Santa Claus is an empirical proposition, and presentation of new evidence could compell reasonable people to accept that existence. Presently reasonable people do not exactly and only because more parsimonious explanations are available for all observables. Likewise, more parsimonious explanations are available for the red rain in Kerala. And that much would remain true even if, more generally, the case for panspermia were placed on firmer ground. Please learn to recognize discussion of a serious and well-reasoned nature. Gamahucheur 16:28, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I expect the fact base is the same - there's a limited number of articles and news stories about this incident! But I haven't actually read the NS article. As for images, I've made some requests and hope to get some suitably licensed images here soon. Worldtraveller 20:12, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"Burning" leaves?

Surely you mean staining or darkening or something, not fire. — Omegatron 19:13, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There are also chemical burns. Gamahucheur 20:59, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

??? Never heard that. If the rain caused chemical burns, that sentence needs a reference. — Omegatron 05:42, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yep. Gamahucheur 16:12, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

References

↑ Ramakrishnan, Venkitesh (2001). Coloured rain falls on Kerala. BBC. URL accessed on Mars 6, 2006.

Although 'Mars 6' is an actual page, should it not read 'March 6,2006'?

Yes - changed it. Thanks! Worldtraveller 21:11, 8 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pics plz

This is a great article. What would really improve it is if someone could get a picture of the red rain, or stained clothes! Ernestleonard 01:00, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Working on that at the moment. Hope to be able to put some images up in the next few days! Worldtraveller 01:06, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've got some collected already. I can upload them if they count as fair use. — Omegatron 05:39, 9 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Images!

in a bucket

in a bucket
optical
SEM

SEM
TEM

— Omegatron 02:05, 10 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Possible cometary origin

Sorry, a sonic boom WOULD NOT OCCUR FROM A COMET, they only happen when entering the speed of sound- like an airplane does. Sonic booms do not happen when slowing down from above the speed of sound, and then falling below it. This is extrememly suspect, and flawed. If these red particles were alien life (made up from proteins), they would be completely destroyed by the heat caused when the comet enters the Earth's atmosphere.