If anyone is interested, attached is a version of the paper. I have to say, when it all clicked, I just stared at the computer for a few minutes - plasmoid ejection just seems that it has to be right. And I was surprised to find that Dr. Svante Arrhenius had proposed the exact same ejection mechanism almost 100 years ago.
For intelligent life to arise anywhere, there must be lower forms of life on millions of planets - so either life arises easily, or it passes through the universe riding on the available forces. Well, here are the forces that move life around. Because of this theory, I took a good hard look at the study of Mars - basically Mars has to have life if this theory is true. And reading Slipher's accounts of the color change on Mars by season, and the "blue clearing" when at opposition with Earth, and seeing the round balls on Mars only at a location that corresponds to a "dark" region on Slipher's map - well, I'm pretty convinced that there is life there. Hopefully, we'll get some true color pictures some day, with enough precision to show changes of shade, or some other proof of life.
Charged Bacterial Spore Uplift and Outflow via Electric Fields
Thomas Dehel
Summary
One of the great quests of humanity is to find evidence of life anywhere else but here on Earth. One way to answer this question is to find undeniable proof of life on another planet. The other way to approach this question is to see whether any form of life we see on Earth has the potential to spread through space by natural forces. Bacterial and fungal spores are a prime candidate for space travel, because of their survival characteristics against heat, cold, desiccation, and vacuum. If we look for and find the physics mechanism that could conceivably lift spores into space and propel them out of the solar system, then we may start to feel we are on the right track to discovering life in space. This paper will describe a plausible set of physical mechanisms sufficient to deserve further investigation.
Electric Field Uplift and Outflow
A physical mechanism able to uplift a charged bacterial spore against the force of gravity is the force of an electric field on the spore’s electric charge[1]. In order to show plausibility, a theoretic bacterial spore was defined using a small but measured bacterial mass (2 x 10-14 g/cell[2]) combined with a reported bacterial electric charge (2.08 x 10-15 C)[3]. Measured values of the strength of Earth’s electric field are shown with the references in Table 1.
Altitude Electric Field Reference
800-1000 km 200 mV/m [4]
800 km 1 V/m [4]
188 km 20 mV/m [5]
30 km 300 mV/m [6]
Base of Atmosphere -6000 to 6000 V/m
(in thunderstorms)
100 V/m typical [6,7]
Table 1. Measured and Reported Electric Field Strengths
Next, the force of the electric field “up†vs. gravity “down†on the charged bacterial spore was calculated and is shown in Table 2. These forces appear strong enough, at times (and when in the correct direction), to lift bacterial spores into near-Earth space.
Altitude
(km) Electric Field Forcegravity Forceelec.field Net ForceUp
1000-20,000 *electric fields drive flow of O+ and electron beams
4.16 x 10-16 N Yes
200 - 1000 1 V/m; location-specific upflow of ionosphere during geomagnetic storms 1.96 x 10-16 N 2.08 x 10-15 N Yes
188 20 mV/m 1.96 x 10-16 N 4.16 x 10-17 N ???
30 300 mV/m 1.96 x 10-16 N 7.0 x 10-16 N Yes
Base of Atmo-sphere -6000 to 6000 V/m
(in thunderstorms)
100 V/m typical 1.96 x 10-16 N (typical)
2.08 x 10-13 N Yes
Table 2. Computed Forces by Altitude
Spore Ejection in Magnetospheric Plasmoids
During geomagnetic storms, ionospheric plasma becomes uplifted into the magnetosphere, and magnetospheirc plasma is ejected from the magnetosphere in plasmoids. An interesting although speculative possibility is that bacterial spores uplifted into near-Earth space are then launched into deep space via these magnetospheric plasmoids. Magnetospheric plasmoids have been observed leaving the Earth at 700 km/s or more [8], and could easily reach Mars and other planets and moons in the solar system.
Do the plasmoids interact with Mars? Mars has a peculiar rare phenomenon called the “blue clearing†which has been observed at or near Mars opposition from Earth, which should be re-examined in light of this theory. Since this speed (700-1000 km/s) also exceeds solar system escape velocity, any entrained bacterial spores could therefore reach other planets in solar systems beyond ours.
Bacterial Spore Space Survival Characteristics
Many researchers and experiments have shown that bacterial spores survive the cold, heat, desiccation, and vacuum of space. Although UV radiation is a lethal killer of many spores in space, an experiment with the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) has shown that some bacterial spores could survive at least six years at the UV level experienced in Earth orbit[9]. Since the rapid departure of the spores from the Earth’s vicinity in plasmoids launched away from the Sun would naturally minimize the intensity of the UV level, the LDEF experiment demonstrates that the notion of survival from UV and all other space hazards is plausible. The spores – inactive but still viable – could reach other star systems after journeys of a few thousand years. Some may land intact on the surface and survive re-entry directly; others may be swept up in comets and delivered during rare comet impacts.
Interesting Observations
If bacterial spores move through space, why don’t we see them? There are several possible answers: (1) there may be very few, so chance is against us. If we are extremely lucky, perhaps Stardust will collect a bacterial spore, or at least organic molecules more complex than amino acids, to provide some evidence for this theory. The other possibility is (2) - they may arrive here, but be indistinguishable from Earth bacteria. In this case, peculiar observations - like finding thermophilic bacteria trapped in Antarctic ice - may actually be the product of interplanetary delivery.
Conclusion
This theory, I believe, is both speculative and compelling at the same time. It suggests an answer to the question of how life began relatively quickly on Earth while it also leaves unanswered the question of how and where life first began. If true, the theory also suggests the extreme likelihood that at least microbial life inhabits any world where life can survive; and that the nearest extraterrestrial life may be found as frozen, ice covered spores in the permanent shadows of our own moon.
References
[1] Although I originally believed I thought of the possibility that electric fields could uplift charged bacterial spores, and I did not find it in any recent literature, I did locate Dr. Svante Arrhenius’ book “Worlds in the Makingâ€, published in 1908, where he originally suggests this theory.
[2] "Induction Charging and Electrostatic Classification of Micrometer-Size Particles for Investigating the Electrobiological Properties of Airborne Microorganisms", Aerosol Science and Technology, Vol. 36, Number 4, April 2002.
[3] "Determination of the Biomass of Small Bacteria at Low Concentrations in a Mixture of Species with Forward Light Scatter Measurements by Flow Cytomtery", B.R. Robertson et. al., Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 64, No. 10, p 3900-3909, October 1998.
[4] "Auroral Electric Fields From Satellite Observations and Numerical Modelling", Doctoral Thesis by Tomas Karlsson, Alfven Laboratory, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden, 2001.
[5] "Observations of ionospheric electric fields above atmospheric weather systems", W.M. Farrell, et.al., Journ. of Geophysical Research, Vol. 99, No. 10, pgs 19,475-19,482, October 1, 1994.
[6] "Electric Field on Earth", The Physics Factbook, ed. By Glenn Elert,
[link]
, accessed June 20, 2005.
[7] Data Sheet for Electric Field Meter Model CS 110, Campbell Scientific, Inc., www.campbellsci.com.
[8] "Propagation Velocities and Dimensions of Plasmoid Structures in the Near-Earth Magnetotail", S.H.F.S.S.Ullaland, Geophysical Res. Letrs., 1999GL003609 Vol, 26, No. 21, p. 3269., 1999
[9] “Life Everywhereâ€, by David Darling, Basic Books, 2001. page 49
P.S. sorry for the poor tables.
