"Water Bears" First Animals to Survive Trip Into Space Naked

Adam Korbitz writes "New Scientist and Science Daily are reporting the results of an intriguing experiment in which scientists launched tardigrades or 'water bears' — tiny invertebrates about one millimeter long — into space onboard the European Space Agency's FOTON-M3 spacecraft. After 10 days in the vacuum of space, the satellite returned to Earth and the tardigrades were recovered. The tardigrades survived the vacuum just fine, but exposure to the Sun's ultraviolet radiation proved deadly for most of the water bears. However, some did survive. The tardigrades are the first animals to have survived such an experiment, a feat previously achieved only by lichens and bacteria."

Comments

Next step

[MyLongNickName]

Allow these water bears to reproduce, and take them back up. Rinse lather repeat, and we will have creatures capable of surviving long durations in space.

Send them to Mars

[Colin Smith]

Over the generations gradually change their environment till it resembles mars. Send the survivors as first colonists.

 

Re:Send them to Mars

[oldspewey]

Send lichens instead ... at least they can get a start on the soil and atmospheric composition while we sort out our own problems down here.

Re:You Fools!

[PlatyPaul]

You do raise a valid point about panspermia theory, oddly enough: escaping life from an extraterrestrial source could actually evolve (or at least perform selection) en route to its final destination. Given sufficient distances to be traveled (and that some of the original life survives), the "hardened" life forms that landed would be more likely to be adaptable to the necessary conditions at the destination.

One serious question to consider is: should we attempt to trigger artificial panspermia? Is it unethical?

let's genetically engineer HUMANS like them!

[wisebabo]

So if we could figure out what keeps them (relatively) impervious to ultraviolet/gamma radiation and allows them to survive direct exposure to vacuum, can we genetically engineer humans like that? Wouldn't space travel be a lot easier, safer and just plain more fun if all you needed was a face mask to breathe and maybe some sort of thin thermal suit?

It probably won't be too difficult in a few decades to genetically engineer people like that, adding the ability to go into hibernation and, being able to freeze them without ice crystals forming in their blood/tissues (like some antarctic fish) would make long interplanetary/interstellar journeys practical. They probably wouldn't be able to breed with the "old-style" humans but it would sure help spread "human-like" life around. "Homo-Astra" (star man). What ethical dilemmas do you see?

One problem might be if there ever was a war, it might be one of complete annihilation since even females would be worthless to the other side (very UN P.C. I know). And we'd probably lose.

Re:You Fools!

[jemminger]

That's assuming the conditions at the destination are the same as during the journey. Suppose they adapted to constant UV bombardment during the journey only to be dropped into boiling oceans of sulfuric acid when they arrive.

Re:Next time

[Theolojin]

I propose they try it with lawyers next. I can provide a short list if they want.

I have a list of 535 lawyers who are available. Better hurry, though, so we have time to figure out which names to write in come November.

Teraforming?

[sckeener]

Not that I'm interested in doing this yet because I'd like to see what is already on the planets in our solar system....however

If they could last long enough in space, we could launch them at planets with the purpose of converting the planets to something more habitable.

I think the really good targets for this would be planets with water...Mars...some of Jupiter's moons....etc.

Panspermia; the universe is our Kleenex

[damburger]

We have for sure left viable life forms on the Moon, and have now shown reasonably complex animal life can be survive vaccuum.

Before we continue to jizz terrestrial organisms over everything in sight like a fustrated teenager, perhaps we ought to consider the implications. If there is life elsewhere in the solar system, it is likely microbial life living underneath the surface of somewhere like Mars or Europe where there might be liquid water.

Given that these extraterrestrial ecosystems are physically smaller and almost certainly have less energy to drive them, the organisms found there will probably be less primitive. If they encountered any of the microscopic monsters that 4 billion years of Earth evolution has produced they probably won't survive.

Re:Panspermia; the universe is our Kleenex

[djp928]

Meteor impacts have already done more than we possibly could in the foreseeable future to "seed" the solar system. If there is life elsewhere in the solar system, it is likely to be Earth life, seeded by asteroid strikes that kicked up biological material in the distant past. Or, perhaps, life started elsewhere in the solar system and migrated here (the Panspermia hypothesis you mention).

Re:You Fools!

[tnk1]

One serious question to consider is: should we attempt to trigger artificial panspermia? Is it unethical?

Depends on what your priorities are and what else you think is out there.

I probably wouldn't be in favor of willy-nilly dumping terrestrial life out there, unless we had no other choice for the survival of life itself "as we know it". Call me sentimental, I guess.

We should make some effort to preserve alien life, should it ever be found for a number of reasons, practical as well as aesthetic.

However, if we found planets that could support our life and didn't appear to be currently occupied, I see no reason not to dump some bacteria on that planet and see what happens.

Re:You Fools!

[somersault]

I was going to mention that only species like humans that use tools and materials are able to survive in wildly different environments, but I thought that was superfluous. I've been SCUBA diving a few times myself, and have even been known to fly on occasion!