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Here's a more comprehensive Science News article from yesterday about the current panspermia debate: http://www.cosmiverse.com/science01110204.htmlAnd an excerpt which informs about the original theory: The idea was first proposed in 1903 by the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, who suggested that solar radiation could propel single spores across solar systems. In the 1970s, astronomers Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe studied the infrared spectra of interstellar grains of dust, concluding that they were dried, frozen bacteria.
They put forward the controversial suggestion that life on Earth started when such bacteria arrived from space. But critics said cosmic rays and ultraviolet radiation from the Sun would kill unprotected spores.
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Another excerpt from Dr. Bill's link for non-clickers (though I recommend reading the full text, it's a stimlating and worthwhile read):
If the question that scientists pose for themselves is simply too difficult, they are limited to pure conjecture. For example, in the Middle Ages, how Earth was formed was a question scientists could only guess about. Science can only make progress by taking small steps. Today, if we were able to answer the limited question "How did life on Earth begin?" it would be a rather large small step, wouldn't it? If we figure out that one, we probably deserve a vacation before we tackle the next problem.
Yet many scientists continue to assert that the question is how life began in the first place. They say that knowing life on Earth comes from space would be of only minor interest because it sheds no light on the question. This position is detrimental to science; in fact, it is dumbfounding.
If one had to compose the question for all of science, it should be something like "What's going on?" Isn't that what we really want to know? With that attitude, it is fruitful to ask more and more precise questions. If we continue to insist that the question about life is "How did life begin in the first place?" we establish ground rules that may keep us from ever finding out what's going on.
Even if we never find out how life begins in the first place, it makes a lot of difference where life on Earth comes from. If life comes from space, evolution could work completely differently from the way we were taught in school. New genes could come from space throughout life's history, even today. These arrivals could be the source of evolution's raw material—new genetic programs for evolution to sift through, as discussed in the sections under "How Does Life Evolve?" This makes a pretty big difference in our understanding of what's going on.
Under the old theory we are completely isolated from the greater universe, including other life in it, if there is any. If life comes from space, life is probably abundant in the universe and we on Earth are related to it. This change has profound philosophical and psychological consequences. This makes a really big difference, as we will discuss.
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Fisk: Talk to yourself, Shona. Shona: OK, Fisk. Yeah, I thought I was being helpful at an early stage in this thread, too. Fisk: Never mind. Have a pint of Harvey's. Shona: Nice one. Cheers, mate.  
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I saw an item somewhere recently that there my be a billion stars with planets.
So far I have not seen any assertion that Earth is in any way less capable of
initialing life than any of the others. I see no reason to assume it could not
commenced here just as readily as it could have anywhere else.
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Holy Missed Links!  Shona, I forgot to click over to this wealth of material after I read through the thread. Bookmarked for extensive perusal, thanks. Here's a piece from shona's link, an abstract of their thesis: Abstract
There is a widespread sentiment that panspermia is uninteresting because it does not answer fundamental questions about the origin of life. The strongest version of panspermia asks entirely new questions. While barriers to the acceptance of panspermia are falling and evidence supporting it is accumulating, the mere possibility of panspermia unhinges the Darwinian account of evolutionary progress. The new theory removes an issue dividing science and religion, but it requires an amendment to the big bang theory. Now, let's have another look at Hoyle! Is the egg off my face, yet? [edit: the Hoyle site] Gee, thanks, shona, my optometrist will love you!
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old hand
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> but it requires an amendment to the big bang theory.
I thought pretty much everyone had scrapped that anyway, at least in its original form. Circa 14 billion years they told us, ...yeah and to the power of what?
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Is the egg off my face, yet?Sure is W'ON, but there's sperm all over the universe...   [the Hoyle site] Gee, thanks, shona, my optometrist will love you!Yeah. Why do they do that? These people must come from another planet. Hoyle is fairly recently deceased, incidentally.
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So far I have not seen any assertion that Earth is in any way less capable of initialing life than any of the othersI think that's correct Bill - but remember this theory is still kicking against the old view of the Earth as possibly the only life-bearing planet in the Universe. Life used to be (and still is) seen by some as an incredible coincidence rather than something pervasive and naturally occurring. What would you call such a viewpoint? Terrocentric? 
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Is the egg off my face, yet?
Shona said: Sure is W'ON, but there's sperm all over the universe...Uh-oh, I guess I should've seen that one coming! (wincing-while-forgetting-the-Gutter-Police-are-back-on-patrol-e)
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Last year WO'N asked me what morel mushrooms tasted like. This was my answer: How do morels taste, I'm asked. They taste like Pan romped through the forest with the nymphssperm implied and wrapped them all up in autumn leaves. I wish I had some now. They are a wild thing, not to be compared to portobello or white ones from the grocer.So, by, you should have asked me . I already knew God is a mushroom, or a mushroom is God, or sumpin' like that! Panspermia indeed, WO'N. You were just baiting me, weren't you! OOOPS, didn't mean to set off a scare in poor pezcyclando's heart!
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