‘There are plenty of unusual theories over the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. From claims that the virus is a bioweapon, to the idea that 5G transmissions are behind the pandemic, there’s been no shortage of hard-to-believe ideas.

But there’s one COVID-19 theory so remarkable that it makes the others look boring by comparison: The proposal that the coronavirus came from space.

The space virus theory has been the work of a group of researchers, notably Edward J. Steele and N. Chandra Wickramasinghe. This group has published ten papers on the topic since the pandemic began, but this paper from July 14th offers the most detailed argument.

Steele et al. suggest that COVID-19 arrived on a meteor which was spotted as a bright fireball over the city of Songyuan in North East China on October 11, 2019.

They propose that the meteor might have been “a fragile and loosely held carbonaceous meteorite carrying a cargo of trillions of viruses/bacteria and other primary source cells.”

The authors admit that the Songyuan meteor was spotted over 2,000 km northeast of Wuhan, where the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, but they deal with this discrepancy with the hypothesis that a different fragment of the meteor arrived in the Wuhan area…

Needless to say, this is not a theory with any evidence for it. There is no evidence that viruses or bacteria (or any other life) exist in space, and Steele et al. provide no direct evidence that the coronavirus arrived from the heavens.

But it turns out that the theory of life (and disease) from space isn’t new. The theory is called panspermia and a handful of researchers, including Steele and Wickramasinghe, have been advocating it for decades….’

— via Neuroskeptic in Discover Magazine

‘Fortunately, there are a number of ways to ensure that your mail-in ballot is delivered in time regardless of what happens with USPS….’

— via Lifehacker

Related: Honestly, Just Vote In Person—It’s Safer Than You Think

‘The panic over the US Postal Service is legitimate, but here’s the good news: It’s not that risky to cast a ballot by hand….’

— via WIRED

‘This list of 40 Hamlets include movies dating from 1900 to the 21st century plus TV shows, short films, cartoons, skits, and even comic pages. Yes, everyone wants to put their unique spin on the melancholy Dane. Some are full productions, while others have a rather tangental relation with the original play -and many are quite funny. And the best part is that almost all have video clips that show why they are ranked the way they are. Check out 40 wildly different interpretations of Hamlet at Lithub….’

— via Neatorama

‘Hunting drove many whale populations nearly to extinction. Now environmental degradation threatens to do it again….’

— via The New Yorker