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Worm Descendants From Columbia Disaster Relaunched

Posted by timothy on from the they're-delicious-in-space dept.

astroengine writes "In 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia burned up on reentry, killing all seven astronauts on board. However, from the wreckage, a sample of C. elegans worms survived. On Monday, descendants from the worms that survived the disaster were launched on board Endeavour for experiments on the space station. 'C. elegans is a common, well-studied organism used in biomedical research as a model for human development, genetics, aging and disease,' says NASA. 'The organism shares many essential biological characteristics found in human biology.'"

3 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Worst post title ever. by rsborg · · Score: 2, Funny

    At first I thought it was related to Columbia, the country.
    Then I was like, heh, maybe it's about the Worms videogame (Worms: Descendants?)

    Finally, after RTFS, I still don't know what this means for space exploration or the earthworms in specific.
    I guess this will force some folks to RTFA...

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  2. "Wreck Once Replicate Many" by couchslug · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sorry...

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  3. Re:Dangerous by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ok, I'm going to need $250,000,000 right away to get "Project Early Bird" up and running... let's just hope we have enough time to breed the correct giant mutant birds.

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