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[G-Flex]

Totally agree with the above posts. There are some damn fine documentaries out there, and just because the panic-and-sensationalism variety are popular now, that doesn't mean it has to be the case, or always was. "Cosmos" is a great example of a documentary that instills a sense of amazement and wonder, but about, you know, the actual world and science itself, not sensationalistic claptrap.

What I saw of "Planet Earth" was pretty decent, but I haven't seen much, and documentaries tend to be hideously expensive on disc.



The documentaries I tend to groan the most about are the conspiracy theory/pseudoscience cash-ins after some movie gets released. Good example: After the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones movie was released, there was a documentary (History Channel maybe?) about the real-life "crystal skulls", one in particular. It did the very typical thing that all these shows seem to do: It spent nearly the entire hour playing up whatever conspiracy theory or paranormal/pseudoscientific thing was the topic (in this case "ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICANS MADE THESE IMPOSSIBLY PERFECT QUARTZ SKULLS AND THEY'RE RELATED TO THE APOCALYPSE SOMEHOW), except for five or so minutes sandwiched 2/3 of the way in of some guy proving how basically all of it is bullshit. Some skewed priorities, there.

[Doombell]

Alien bacteria are probably not going to do a damn thing to us...

That was actually one of the most interesting points of the documentary. They theorized that the Spanish flu (Not sure if it was that one or if that's the correct name in English), was from comet dust, due to its completely random infection vector. A closer examination revealed that the actual virus wasn't all that serious, but it was so foreign the immune system went the way of a sufficiently entertaining fortress and killed the body in its immoderate attempts at defending it.

There was some talk of the latest example being that SARS epidemic. Or some other of all these abbreviations that rhyme with "arse".

[Eugenitor]

That was actually one of the most interesting points of the documentary. They theorized that the Spanish flu (Not sure if it was that one or if that's the correct name in English), was from comet dust, due to its completely random infection vector.

The level of moronic ignorance from people who should seriously know better...

You know what? Let's inject half of them with Spanish flu. Then let's inject the other half with plain old H1N1. They can compare notes.

[Sir Finkus]

If we're going to discuss comets or asteroids carrying a disease that would affect humans, lets ponder the odds.  I'm not an expert on the subject, so please point out to me if I'm off base here.

First off, the critter has to be able to survive in space.  Space isn't a particularly hospitable place, being a vacuum featuring temperature extremes, cosmic rays, and lack of oxygen.  Then, it actually has to hit earth and survive re-entry.  Assuming the critter survives that, it has a 70% chance of landing in the ocean, which greatly reduces its chances of infecting a human. Even if it hits land, it has a better chance of landing somewhere pretty much empty than it does landing somewhere populated.

Next, it has to be able to survive on our planet, which is a rather different environment than outer space. It also has to compete with the billions of other lifeforms which are adapted to live in our environment. Considering the mass of the asteroid compared to our planet, it is much more likely that one of our bugs would wipe the space one out simply because there are more chances for it to occur, just like wolves in adventure mode.

So lets say the asteroid lands in the middle of new york city.  It thrives in our environment, and has ready access to humans.  Lets even make the leap that it has "infected" a few and is highly contagious, and immune to any of our medicines and our immune systems.  It's a rather big leap, but lets make it anyway.  The trouble is, the vast majority of bacteria and viruses are harmless to humans, so even if there was an "epidemic" it would most likely just be a scientific curiosity rather than a catastrophe.

Unless I'm missing something big, I think it's more likely that a future version of dwarf fortress will end man as we know it than some alien super bug.

 

[forsaken1111]

You have completely discounted the human idiocy factor, which is a big mistake.

"Oh look, a large cometary fragment landed off the coast! Let's go retrieve it."

"Oh look, some extraterrestrial organisms are inside, lets nourish them and study them!"

"AGH WE ARE MELTING WHY DID WE GROW ALIEN ORGANISMS?!"

[Sir Finkus]

You have completely discounted the human idiocy factor, which is a big mistake.

"Oh look, a large cometary fragment landed off the coast! Let's go retrieve it."

"Oh look, some extraterrestrial organisms are inside, lets nourish them and study them!"

"AGH WE ARE MELTING WHY DID WE GROW ALIEN ORGANISMS?!"

Sounds like the plot of Andromeda Strain. 

[Hyndis]

Organisms here have had about 4 billion years to adapt perfectly to the environment here. Any newcomer is going to be at a huge disadvantage. If it survives being ejected, millions of years of interstellar travel, and also survives the reentry and impact any alien organisms are still doomed.

If they are not eaten by the first thing that shows up, they might not even be able to find any food, as their biology could be entirely different than our own where our planet is lethal to them.

[forsaken1111]

Oh come on, we're already talking about a science fiction organism that survived space, re-entry, and impact. Obviously a little earth bacteria isn't gonna kill it. 

[ungulateman]

A little Earth bacteria is quite capable of killing a relatively large Earth animal (not to start with viruses, which are even smaller).

Think about it.

[forsaken1111]

No earth animal can survive space, uncontrolled re-entry, and impact with the earth's surface.

[Neonivek]

Lets just say if you watch enough documenaries not only do you believe the human race is extremely lucky for not dying out every month, but you sort of wonder why such things don't happen.

[forsaken1111]

So these guys sell fear?

[Hyndis]

So these guys sell fear?

Yes. Its big business too.

For example:  http://www.foxnews.com/

[Il Palazzo]

Let's ponder the odds & stuff.

Let's not mix up viruses and bacteria. I'm pretty sure that the simple form of a virus, which can be hardly called alive anyway, could survive undamaged a trip trough space and landing.
There's also no known organisms that "eat" viruses, apart from this one "sputnik virophage" which likes just one kind of viruses, and is itself a kind of a virus(must infect an amoeba, then wait for the other virus to infect it as well. All in all, a very specific relationship). Which is not to say that there isn't more, but they don't seem to be very common, judging by the number of known species.

On the other hand, viruses can infect only those few organisms they evolved with, so I can hardly see how would an alien virus could do anything apart from sitting idly on it's viral ass for all eternity.

And there's always the question of how come there are viruses on comets in the first place? Viruses need other organisms to replicate. They almost certainly evolved from other simple life forms, so unless there's a thriving soup of microcellural life inhabiting those comets(which brings about all the problems associated with sustaining life in space), I don't see where they could come from.

[Sir Finkus]

Let's ponder the odds & stuff.

Let's not mix up viruses and bacteria. I'm pretty sure that the simple form of a virus, which can be hardly called alive anyway, could survive undamaged a trip trough space and landing.
There's also no known organisms that "eat" viruses, apart from this one "sputnik virophage" which likes just one kind of viruses, and is itself a kind of a virus(must infect an amoeba, then wait for the other virus to infect it as well. All in all, a very specific relationship). Which is not to say that there isn't more, but they don't seem to be very common, judging by the number of known species.

On the other hand, viruses can infect only those few organisms they evolved with, so I can hardly see how would an alien virus could do anything apart from sitting idly on it's viral ass for all eternity.

And there's always the question of how come there are viruses on comets in the first place? Viruses need other organisms to replicate. They almost certainly evolved from other simple life forms, so unless there's a thriving soup of microcellural life inhabiting those comets(which brings about all the problems associated with sustaining life in space), I don't see where they could come from.

See? This is why I disclaimer posts .  My main focus was obviously on bacteria, and I pretty much completely forgot about viruses.  My point still remains though.  The chances of a "superbug from outer space" wiping out humanity are stupidly remote.  Makes for decent Sci-fi, but our real efforts should be focused on disaster scenarios that are much more likely to actually occur.  Unfortunately, people in general tend to focus on the spectacular and unlikely rather than the mundane and common. 

:Edit: good lord we're off topic, and I feel it's my fault.  Sorry for the derail op.  Doomsday scenarios aside, I thought it was a rather interesting documentary.