- Godfrey Louis
Dr. Godfrey Louis is a solid-state
physicist , who, while atMahatma Gandhi University ,Kottayam (Kerala) achieved notoriety for his controversial hypotheses about thered rain in Kerala . In April 2006, he published a paper. cite journal | last = Louis| first =G. | authorlink = | coauthors =Kumar A.S. | year =2006 | month = | title =The red rain phenomenon of Kerala and its possible extraterrestrial origin | journal =Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = | issue = | pages = | id = | url =http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0601022v1 | quote =( [full paper] ) ( [http://springerlink.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&doi=10.1007/s10509-005-9025-4 at journal website] )| accessdate = 2008-06-06 ] in the journal Astrophysics and Space Science in which he hypothesised that samples of particles from the "blood-coloured" rain that fell in his state ofKerala ,India in the summer of 2001 were the result of a comet disintegrating in the upper atmosphere which comprised mainlymicrobe s from outer space.Since October 2006 he has been at Department of Physics,
Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in Kochi,Kerala .A new department of astrobiology
The Tribune reported, on the 2nd June 2006, that a new department ofastrobiology could be established at Mahatma Gandhi University. Dr James, the vice-chancellor, said the university had set up a laboratory exclusively for studies in astrobiology and it had the potential to rise to the level of a centre for astrobiology in future. This was in large part as a result of the study of the red rain in Kerala by Dr Louis and the endorsement that his work had received fromChandra Wickramasinghe . As of June 2008, there is no such department at Mahatma Gandhi University at Kottayam [cite web|url=http://www.mguniversity.edu/research.htm|title=List of research facilities at Mahatma Gandhi University|accessdate=2008-06-06]See also
*
Red rain in Kerala
*Panspermia References
External links
* [http://education.vsnl.com/godfrey/ Home Page of Dr. Godfrey Louis]
* [http://springerlink.metapress.com/(fa42f3yvb2psiae2oivhhn55)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,31,36;journal,1,586;linkingpublicationresults,1:100241,1 The Red Rain Phenomenon of Kerala and its Possible Extraterrestrial Origin] in Astrophysics and Space Science
* [http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/2c21c0f98d07b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html Popular Science] – Is It Raining Aliens?
* [http://arxiv.org/archive/astro-ph arXiv astrophysics] – Use the search facility with 'Godfrey Louis' to locate his three papers.
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060602/science.htm#3 Tribune 2 June 2006] – Tribune article
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6146292.stm "Horizon", 14 November 2006]
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