Slashdot Mirror
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."
"Up to two weeks?"
No, "At *least* two weeks". They were exposed for 15 days and were unchanged.
Lichen and spores are sure durable; I wouldn't be surprised if they could survive basically indefinitely in a cold vacuum.
They likely brought it into space in order to determine whether or not it could survive not just in a vaccuum, but also under these conditions, all at the same time:
* Vaccuum. (Of course.)
* Assorted forms of radiation.
* Zero gravity.
* Extremes of temperature.
Those conditions tend not to support life from Earth, and so to see that lichen can indeed survive in space, if only for a short time, is astounding. Not only does this add weight to the panspermia theory, but it also could stand to change our take on the 'qualifications' for a habitable environment completely, raising questions such as, "Could it be possible for more complex organisms to actually thrive in space?"
I for one welcome our moldy overlords.
Terrestrial bacteria were found to have survived for three years of lunar exposure. Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad who retrieved the camera from which these bacteria were cultured thinks this discovery is the, "most significant thing that we ever found," in the entire Apollo program.
p 98_1.htm
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast01se
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
I would hazard to guess the odds of ejecta striking another planet at much worse than 1:1,000,000. Be that as it may, if I were given a gun that could shoot 1 billion bullets in the stadium, and I fired those bullets randomly while blindfolded, I would be very surprised Not to have hit the target a few decades later when I expended all of my bullets. Just the same with the example of a planet ejecting material over the millenia. It is highly unlikely for any one rock to hit anything, however the odds of one out of an astronomical number of rocks to hit another planet becomes significantly more plausible.