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Space Lichens
moon_monkey writes "According to a report lichens - a composite of algae and fungi - can survive in space for up to two weeks. An experiment carried out by the European Space Agency saw two species of lichen carried into orbit and then exposed to the vacuum of space for nearly 15 days. These are the most complex form of life now known to have survived prolonged exposure to space. The experiment adds weight to the theory of panspermia - that life could somehow be transported between planets."
If they need more test subjects, my shower walls have plenty of fungus to donate.
Bury me in mashed potatoes.
I thought panspermia came from flute playing goats.
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Sounds like a neat theory, but it'd have to be an absolutely killer climax to have it hit escape velocity. I can't usually get more than 7-8 feet of distance even on a pent-up, high-pressure day.
I for one, welcome out new space-faring algae lichens. As a D&D player I've seen what regular lich can do, but I was unaware of their resistances to space. I truely am scared and confused.
Question: How long can a human stay in space without a space suit?
Answer: Almost indefinitely <evil grin>
Everybody Lies. But it doesn't matter since nobody listens.
This space lichen corpse tastes terrible! You finish eating the space lichen corpse.
Q: What did the comedian say to the crowd?
A: If I knew, this joke would be funny.
And yet the lichens die pretty easily, even with a plain +0 pickaxe or short sword. Their corpses stay good indefinitely though, which is helpful when I'm playing with a vegetarian or vegan #conduct.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Now that we know lichens can survive exposed to the harsh conditions of space, how about we try it with Karl Rove?
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
Oh wait...
...both interiorlly, and exteriorlly.
pffft that's nothing, I've survived in space for over 30 years. ohhhhh, OUTERspace
So, The Terrible Secret of Space is... athlete's foot? That was sort of anticlimactic.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Well it's never going to die if you keep CHECKING ON IT...15 days in space...shesh.
"Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important." (Lisa Hoffman)
... er scientist...
... if it's supposed to. The whole thing's planned, y'know.
Of COURSE panspermia is possible. Life can easily travel in space.
Rockets maybe... What better way to make absolutely clear to any intelligent life on another planet that there is life where you are from than hucking some of it at them?
...it goes on forever. And...Oh my God!...It's full of lichens!
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
What the hell was that? Hmmm... space herpes!
... This ship has space herpes?
- Reentry heat (need to be inside a big rock or something)
- Boredom. Lichens are fairly uncontemplative creatures, however.
sigs, as if you care.
I don't want to know what kind of flute that goat-man is playing.
Is that why I've spent my whole life on a rock in space and gotten nowhere?
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
My biology teacher told me that life was designed by an intelligent designer who can do anything. If he wanted lichen to sprout rocket engines and fly between the stars he could do that too. That's why science is a pointless subject to study and I'll just get back to my cow tipping here in Kansas...
Oh, great - so my space ship will need anti-fouling to keep space barnacles from growing on it...
Will space barnacles and space weed slow a space ship down? Maybe if it gets stuck in the subspace propeller, or fouls the plasma intake manifold...
Oh well, what the hell...
The fact that chimpanzee DNA is so similar to humans is incontrovertible proof that the two species descended from a common ancestor.
What if the Aliens did the 'nasty' with the monkies?
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Some forms of lichen can be used as a towel in an emergency.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
Only an intelligent designer could have calculated the trajectories and orbits necessary to spread life between planets. Especially given the limited computers available at the time of creation.
Vuja De: That sinking feeling that this is going to happen again. Often occurs in meetings with Product Managers.