Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microbes Survive, and Maybe Thrive, High In the Atmosphere

Posted by samzenpus on from the a-place-in-the-clouds dept.

sciencehabit writes "Each year, hundreds of millions of metric tons of dust, water, and humanmade pollutants make their way into the atmosphere, often traveling between continents on jet streams. Now a new study confirms that some microbes make the trip with them, seeding the skies with billions of bacteria and other organisms—and potentially affecting the weather. What's more, some of these high-flying organisms may actually be able to feed while traveling through the clouds, forming an active ecosystem high above the surface of the Earth."

9 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Cut and Paste Editing by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dozens of times a day, stories are submitted to Slashdot with whole paragraphs cut and pasted into the submission box. Creatures known as "Slashdot Editors" are conditioned with small snacks to tap a large red button labeled "POST LIVE".

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  2. People are always so surprised... by TWX · · Score: 2

    ...to find life in places that they hadn't previously considered that they'd find it.

    Yet, on the other hand, a lot of science fiction has covered such topics. Even HG Wells' War of the Worlds concludes with the deaths of the Martians, all of them , because of bacterial contamination and the lack of immunity. For all to have died, simply getting into contact with flora and fauna wouldn't be enough, it'd have to be airborne.

    Amusingly enough, there's probably life on Mars right now. If it wasn't there before, we probably brought it along when we sent probes over the decades. I would not be surprised if something from the large number of missions flown has survived.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:People are always so surprised... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Informative

      Even HG Wells' War of the Worlds concludes with the deaths of the Martians, all of them , because of bacterial contamination and the lack of immunity. For all to have died, simply getting into contact with flora and fauna wouldn't be enough, it'd have to be airborne.

      Bad example. HG Wells had the Martians injecting "fresh, living human blood into their own veins" as food.

      Even without airborne bacteria, that would be enough bacterial exposure to kill you, given the complete lack of immunity they had to Earthly pathogens.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  3. I, for one, welcome our new microbial... by stenvar · · Score: 2

    on second thought, I don't actually.

  4. Re:News: Microbes live in places mammals can't. by bbelt16ag · · Score: 2

    cats live up there? * looks up at the sky* i knew they could jump but DAMN

    --
    NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP! "No limitations, no boundaries, there is no reason for them."
  5. This is old news, and has been known for years. by wierd_w · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There are actually several noteworthy bacterial species that live almost exclusively in the mid and upper atmospheres.

    For instance, here is a story from 2008 about 'rain making' atmospheric microbes.

    This announcement is neither new, nor unexpected, and the hype injected by the media about it serves only to convey how poorly educated certain segments of the population actually are.

    Seriously, if there is even the slightest possibility that life could exist in any given environment on earth, there is a reasonable expectation that given a sufficient sampling of those environments, you will find thriving lifeforms that have adapted to that environment. Life is just that pernicious and invasive.

    Something as profoundly in contact with huge numbers of open biomes, like the atmosphere, with direct mechanisms of mixing low and high atmosphere contents, it really isn't surprising that microbes have adapted to conditions in the upper atmosphere.

    For goodness sake, we have novel species of microbe that have adapted to the extreme conditions of nasa JPL cleanrooms, including intense, sustained UV bombardment. JPL hasn't be around nearly as long as the stratosphere. This isn't hard.

  6. Sagan's atmospheric beasts by gratuitous_arp · · Score: 2

    Reminds me of Sagan's "atmospheric beasts", the floaters, sinkers and hunters he imagines in the second episode of Cosmos (see around 53:13) -- though TFA is talking about microorganisms on Earth not postulating life on other planets.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftpVA04_IFc

    1. Re:Sagan's atmospheric beasts by wierd_w · · Score: 2

      For any large scale atmospheric organisms, you would need a very nutrient dense atmosphere.

      Earth's atmosphere is not terrifically nutrient dense; the vast majority of nutritional sources are terrestrial, and what nutritional materials are present in the upper atmosphere gets up there through limited interactions with the surface.

      This would be in sharp contrast to a nutrient dense atmosphere, like that of a gas giant rich in water vapor and CO2 with many bars of pressure. In such circumstances, said atmosphere would have more in common with an ocean, and would be able to support larger lifeforms, both because the density of the atmosphere means more displacement is possible (much like how whales live in earth's oceans), and because more photosynthetic organisms per cubic centimeter could be sustained due to the increased availability of raw materials.

      Earth's atmosphere makes it very hard for something bigger than a microbe to stay purpetually suspended on the gas currents present within it, and its low pressure and density make it nutrient poor at higher altitudes. That's why only extremophile microbes live there.

  7. Re:Venus by mbone · · Score: 2

    Yes, they did and, yes, they (and we) did.