The virus that came from outer space
An American website has published a warning of the possible appearance of a virus from outer space. No, it's not a joke. The claim was made by Richard Carrigan, a physicist with the Fermi National Acceleration Laboratory in Batavia (Illinois).
From an early age, my parents taught me to be as open as possible to others' ideas, however bizarre or unlikely these may seem. Nobody should be dismissed out of hand just because they think in a certain way - an attitude that I assume all my readers share. However, when I saw the item about extraterrestrial viruses, my hackles rose, particularly as it came from a scientist, or at least somebody who claimed to be one.
What surprised me was not the fact that it talked about Martians, I regard belief in the existence of life in outer space as a personal issue which I am prepared to respect. What really struck me was the almost non-existent scientific and logical basis for the claim. Instead, it is little more than an incoherent fantasy, the result of a conversation between friends at the end of an evening during which a few too many bottles of cheap wine had been consumed.
