Live Worms Found in Columbia Wreckage

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Live Worms Found in Columbia Wreckage

Posted by michael on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @11:43PM from the now-we-just-need-some-tequila dept.

Scoria writes "CNN is reporting that hundreds of live worms, fourth or fifth generation descendents of the subjects of a scientific experiment conducted aboard Columbia, have been discovered amongst the shuttle wreckage. The worms, C. elegans , share many biological characteristics with humans and are the size of a pencil tip."

49 of 321 comments (clear)

It's not one way.. by maharg · 2003-04-30 23:45 · Score: 3, Funny

Many humans share common characteristics with worms, too.

--

$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
1. Re:It's not one way.. by Anonymous Coward · 2003-04-30 23:52 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  DON'T JUST SIT THERE NASA PEOPLE!
  ASK THEM WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE SHUTTLE WENT DOWN!
  THEIR GREAT GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE EYE WITNESSES!
  
  ( yeah, I know. this post probably proves Maharg's point, but I couldn't help it. sorry. its what Chucky Green would have yelled out at the news there was life found in the shuttle remains. )
2. Re:It's not one way.. by FroMan · 2003-05-01 01:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Oh, that is just plain old mean. Comparing worms to RIAA and MPAA folks. Give the worms some dignity. Show them some respect.
  
  --
  Norris/Palin 2012
  Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
Size matters? by eightball01 · 2003-04-30 23:46 · Score: 3, Funny

If they're the size of a pencil tip, just how many biological characteristics can they share with us?
1. Re:Size matters? by beders · 2003-04-30 23:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  C. elegans have two sexes: males and hermaphrodites, which are females that produce sperm
  
  They don't share this one do they? Is my wife keeping something from me?
  
  --
  Brocklesby Park Cricket Club
2. Re:Size matters? by crawling_chaos · 2003-05-01 00:27 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  If they're the size of a pencil tip, just how many biological characteristics can they share with us?
  I understand that some of them voted for Bush in Florida. Whether they meant to or not is another question.
  
  --
  You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
  -- Colonel Adolphus Busch
3. Re:Size matters? by lyonsden · 2003-05-01 00:42 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Probably. Don't they all?
Kevin Bacon by Anonymous Coward · 2003-04-30 23:46 · Score: 0, Funny

OMG! Tremors is real! So is Keven Bacon!
Worms from outer space! by Hulver · 2003-04-30 23:47 · Score: 4, Funny

Kill them now, before they start to mutate!
I think they were the real cause of the crash, soon they'll start to take over the world unless they're stopped!

--
-- Hulver's site
1. Re:Worms from outer space! by feed_me_cereal · 2003-05-01 01:07 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  It's too late! They've already crashed in Texas and phase 2 of their plot has begun: to enslave the minds of our top polticians! Those close to the president have noted an increased appetite for dirt lately...
  
  --
  "Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson
Pencil Tip by RustyTire · 2003-04-30 23:48 · Score: 2, Funny

Yes... because we humans are the size of a pencil tip. Then again, it's it good that they are not the size of a VW.

--
I do not control the Sig, the Sig controls me.
1. Re:Pencil Tip by Artifex · 2003-04-30 23:54 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Then again, it's it good that they are not the size of a VW
  
  That would have made finding the rest of the wreckage a lot easier, though.
  
  --
  Get off my launchpad!
2. Re:Pencil Tip by Surak · 2003-05-01 00:12 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Yes... because we humans are the size of a pencil tip. Then again, it's it good that they are not the size of a VW.
  
  I think a pencil tip is equivalent to .00000001 VW beetles, or about 1,000,000,000 human-hair-widths.
  
  But I could be wrong. I wish they'd just switch to the metric system like the rest of the world! ;)
  
  --
  My journal has hot /. gossip.
3. Re:Pencil Tip by Zoop · 2003-05-01 00:31 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  it's it good that they are not the size of a VW
  
  Yes, but in America we are working on making humans that size by default.
4. Re:Pencil Tip by JediTrainer · 2003-05-01 01:06 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I think a pencil tip is equivalent to .00000001 VW beetles, or about 1,000,000,000 human-hair-widths.
  
  Wait, wait. How many Libraries of Congress is that again?
  
  --
  
  You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
5. Re:Pencil Tip by Surak · 2003-05-01 01:45 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  42?
  
  No, wait, that's the meaning of life, that can't be it .... :-P
  
  --
  My journal has hot /. gossip.
6. Re:Pencil Tip by pdbogen · 2003-05-01 01:58 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I'll add that in to our Standard Astronomical English Solid Volume Measurement Systems (SAESVM for ease of pronunciation):
  
  Tennis Ball = 52 Pencil Erasers
  Bread Box = 346 Tennis Balls
  Bowling Ball = 2.2 bread boxes
  Volkswagen bug = 2560 bowling balls
  Football field (yes it's volumn, it's the english system) = 1340 Volkswage bugs
  Texas = 1,253,342 Foot ball fields
  China = 19,430 Texases
  "Your Mom" = 36,231 Chinas
  And a Your Mom is defined as the volume of a cube having each edge the exact distance traveled by light in a "little bit".
7. Re:Pencil Tip by alkali · 2003-05-01 02:28 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Warning to Zoop: if there is further public discussion of Project Sbarro, your security clearance will be withdrawn.
So... by KDan · 2003-04-30 23:48 · Score: 4, Funny

Let's make slashdot mods eat a fistful of them every time they posts a dupe :-) That would be a geeky punishment - being forced to eat space worms.

Daniel

--
Carpe Diem
from the article by Angry+Black+Man · 2003-04-30 23:49 · Score: 2, Funny

The worms, C. elegans, share many biological characteristics with humans and are the size of a pencil tip."

"C. elegans have two sexes: males and hermaphrodites, which are females that produce sperm. A hermaphrodite worm can self-fertilize for the first 300 or so eggs but later usually prefers to accept sperm from males to produce a larger number of offspring. "

hrmm...

--
the byproduct of years of oppression by the white man
Pledge by Anonymous Coward · 2003-04-30 23:50 · Score: 5, Funny

I'd like to pledge my loyalty to the alien overlord worms.
Err, what? by nilsjuergens · 2003-04-30 23:50 · Score: 3, Funny

> The worms, C. elegans, share many biological
> characteristics with humans and are the size of a > pencil tip.

Humans? Size? Pencil Tip?

Well buddy yours might be that small but mine sure isn't ;-)

--
-- Having problems sending big files over the net? Try out Efisto (http://efisto.org)
Kent Brockman by semaj · 2003-04-30 23:51 · Score: 5, Funny

I, for one, welcome our new invertebrate overlords.

I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to... toil in their underground sugar caves.

--
Meep meep
Re:Land as Worms or eggs? by R.Caley · 2003-05-01 00:04 · Score: 2, Funny

I'm thinking the worms they found were probably eggs when accident happened.
The eggs were in a compartment underneath the floor of the crashed shuttle with spooky dry-ice fog lit by horizontally scanning laser beams.
A NASA spokesperson said
gug gus uv uv by bays

--
_O_ .|< The named which can be named is not the true named
Re:"the size of a pencil tip" by Mister+Transistor · 2003-05-01 00:09 · Score: 2, Funny

O.K...

Expressed in DVD's: The size of a tiny shard of the DVD you broke in half in disgust.

Expressed in LOC's: The size of a sliver of paper that fell off an extremely old tome that was contained within.

You asked for it!

--
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
If they can... by gvonk · 2003-05-01 00:11 · Score: 5, Funny

If the worms can survive the crash, why can't they build the whole shuttle out of whatever worms are made of?

--

El Karma: excelente(principalmente la suma de moderación hecha a los comentarios de los usuarios)
1. Re:If they can... by worst_name_ever · 2003-05-01 00:13 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  If the worms can survive the crash, why can't they build the whole shuttle out of whatever worms are made of?
  Because then they'd have to pick space shuttles off of the sidewalk every time it rained.
  
  --
  
  In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
Re:The worms by Anonymous Coward · 2003-05-01 00:11 · Score: 0, Funny

Tolerant of high temperatures?

Hmm....does anyone else spot the possibility of using these worms as a type of heatsink?

Besides....they can't be THAT similiar to humans if they're actually TOLERANT. Who ever heard of that?
Childhood song by Anonymous Coward · 2003-05-01 00:14 · Score: 0, Funny

Ok, this could be considered tasteless. Kind of a sick humor, but I couldn't help thinking about the old childhood song that goes something like:
The worms crawl in,
the worms crawl out,
they eat your guts up
and spit them out!
They are fake worms. by noogle · 2003-05-01 00:15 · Score: 4, Funny

Just like the moon landings and that other thing.

--
I'm smarter than the average bear.
Lord of the mutant space froot flies by madmarcel · 2003-05-01 00:16 · Score: 3, Funny

Tsk tsk - < /. editors>>
I read that as: "Escaped mutant worms have been found alive in space-shuttle wreckage!"

Bah, they were still in their containment ehh..container. How disappointing.
I figured the little buggers had escaped and survived in the foam insulation of the space-shuttle. Maybe I should cut down on my daily
intake of science fiction ;)

Oh well, I'm surprised they didn't find any mutant fruit-flies (also from previous experiments ;)
or a gigantic mutant space mould.
(Wasn't one of them growing on good ol' MIR?)

Hmmm....tasty spacebugs :P
Re:Don't touch the shuttle parts said the FBI ... by smart.id · 2003-05-01 00:23 · Score: 1, Funny

RTFA. The worms were in containers. They probably wouldn't have got on the other parts. And I'm no scientist, but I don't think antigravity makes anybody mutate.

--
blog & fiction: jd87
enough with the Dubiahh jokes... by Imazalil · 2003-05-01 00:26 · Score: 5, Funny

"The worms, C. elegans, share many biological characteristics with humans and are the size of a pencil tip."
Alright kids, enough with the George W. Junior jokes already. We know he's dumb but this is getting a little tired...

...what...

no?

oh alright carry on then...
Re:Interesting Implications by AccUser · 2003-05-01 00:28 · Score: 5, Funny

This proves that life can survive a fiery impact with the earth -- like that of a meteor impact.

Provided that the life form in question is carefully organised into petri-dishes, hematically sealed in a selection of jars, and stored in a locker.

--
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
Not again! by Anonymous Coward · 2003-05-01 00:31 · Score: 5, Funny

Once again NASA opens a can of worms in their Columbia disaster enquiry!
Re:Search for Spock by Anonymous Coward · 2003-05-01 00:35 · Score: 2, Funny

My question is, if this was the fourth or fifth generation, what were they eating??

Probably the organic material that was on board.
Re:Don't touch the shuttle parts said the FBI ... by MyGirlFriendsBroken · 2003-05-01 00:41 · Score: 1, Funny

Antigravity???

I prefer the term trampoline

--
If you read a speed reading book, does it take you less time to read the second half?
Well, they survive nukes by Zerbey · 2003-05-01 00:50 · Score: 4, Funny

...And airstrikes, and banana bombs and exploding sheep (sometimes).

Why not shuttle accidents too? Should be a walk in the park for them! :)
If I had a nickel for every time I heard... by GamezCore.com · 2003-05-01 00:50 · Score: 3, Funny

The worms, C. elegans, share many biological characteristics with humans and are the size of a pencil tip.

I've tried six or seven of the solutions offered by the Spam emails, but no matter what I do I still get that pencil tip comparison all the time!

--

www.GamezCore.com For Hardcore PS2 Gamerz : By Hardcore PS2 Gamerz
Amazing primitive life forms by Anonymous Coward · 2003-05-01 00:59 · Score: 1, Funny

It is amazing that those worms survived the journey. It just goes to prove that, after a nuclear war, only worms, cockroaches and spammers will survive.
The real Earthworm Jim by shane_rimmer · 2003-05-01 01:02 · Score: 2, Funny

Have any of the worms donned a space suit and escaped to save the princess?
Search for Spock by _underSCORE · 2003-05-01 01:03 · Score: 3, Funny

Didn't the same thing happen in Star Trek III?

The scientists better watch out, because we know how fast those things can mutate.

--
"This is not a company that appears to be bothered by ethical boundaries."
Attorney General Mike Hatch on Microsoft
In other news... by Zog+The+Undeniable · 2003-05-01 01:14 · Score: 2, Funny

Shuttle astronauts have asked for their craft to be tightly packed with moss for the next mission.

--
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
In the NASA offices... by triaxcaribdis · 2003-05-01 01:51 · Score: 3, Funny

You can just imagine it

Scientist: (Rumages about the debrise) Oh no...
Admin: What? What have you found?
Scientist: We've opened up a whole can of worms here...
Re:Interesting Implications by nelsonal · 2003-05-01 01:57 · Score: 3, Funny

Only meteors larger than a VW come standard with petri dishes and lockers, for others its an expensive option.

--
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Re:Shuttle worms survive in shuttle by MrFredBloggs · 2003-05-01 01:58 · Score: 3, Funny

>sukkulamadot

Suck a llama dot? What, is this a type of acid?
Re:CHICKENS! by Tackhead · 2003-05-01 02:18 · Score: 2, Funny

> Chickens eat worms, right?
>
> Right?
The secret's out! That ad campaign wasn't a guy in a cow suit, it was a worm in a cow suit!
The Terrible Secret of Space: "EAT MOR CHIKIN!"
Re:Interesting Implications by BrokenHalo · 2003-05-01 02:59 · Score: 2, Funny

In my VW, they would have to get out and push :-P
Mister Spock's Photon Torpedo had worms too... by laguy · 2003-05-01 04:47 · Score: 2, Funny

Now where's his body?