Chandra Wickramasinghe, Fred Hoyle´s old associate, is one of the scientists who two years ago signed a paper arguing that "panspermia" rather than "abiogenesis" is how life originated and evolved on Earth. The idea is that all life really comes from space and "seeds" our planet on a semi-regular basis, for instance during the Cambrian Explosion.
Wickramasinghe also connects panspermia to the steady state cosmology usually associated with his late collegue Hoyle. Since the universe is eternal, life is really eternal, too, so no need for any complicated hypothesis about abiogenesis! Needless to say, few scientists believe in Wickramasinghe´s scenario - it´s probably too daring even for admirers of Lynn Margulis - but it´s fascinating anyhow.
The media particularly liked the idea that the octopus was an "alien from outer space". I´m reliably informed that certain occultists and chaos magicians do the same. You know, Cthulhu and all that stuff...
The return of panspermia
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