Jakarta –
Rain events usually drop clear water. But unlike what had happened in Kerala, India, the rain that fell was blood red. Scientists and researchers are trying to find out the cause.
The first blood-red rains occurred in Kerala in 1896, and have occurred several times since then. In 2001, between July 25 and September 23, local residents reported that red rain lashed the area so hard that it stained clothes pink.
Quoted from Mystery of India, local residents also reported rain with other colors. They said, there had been rain with rainfall from the sky green, yellow and black. The last incident occurred in June 2012. In that year, apart from Kerala, there were also reports of ‘blood rain’ in Sri Lanka from 15 November to 27 December.
After the incident in 2001 several studies were carried out and scientists initially suggested that the colored rain in Kerala was caused by a meteor explosion. More and more researchers are curious about this phenomenon, one of which includes Godfrey Louis, a physicist at the Cochin University of Science and Technology. Louis collects several samples of red rain and is determined to find out what caused the contamination, perhaps sand or dust from a distant desert.
But this conjecture was later abandoned when they conducted a thorough investigation and found that the rain did not, in fact, carry desert dust. Under the microscope, there is no evidence of sand or dust. In contrast, rainwater is filled with red blood cells that are very similar to those of ordinary insects.
Oddly enough, Louis found no evidence of DNA in these cells which would rule out most known biological cell types. Red blood cells are only one possibility, and even those should be destroyed quickly by rain.
The local government then commissioned a study to investigate this. After intensive analysis in two laboratories in the UK, astronomer Chandra Wickramasinghe who studies cells with microbiologists at the University of Cardiff says he has found signs of the presence of biological cells, confirming Louis’ findings.
“As the research progressed, I became more and more convinced that these were biologically unusual cells. The 2001 ‘blood rain’ cells multiplied under extreme heat and found that they contained no DNA,” he said.
Their study found that instead of desert dust or meteor explosions, the colored showers were caused by airborne spores from the genus trentepohlia. This is a type of green algae that thrives in the area. The exact species was later named by an international research team as Trentepohlia annulata.
It is known that spores of locally breeding aerial algae have colored the rain. The red particles were suspended in the rainwater, making the raindrops blood red.
Watch Video “‘Rainforest’ Officially Opened, What’s Up?”
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2023-07-18 11:10:52
#Blood #Red #Rain #India #Unexpected
