Space Lichens 250
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."
Already done with mold (Score:2, Informative)
They didn't describe the details of the flight. Was this a mission to the ISS? If so, I wonder how much risk they took by "opening" the box in the presence of the station? Could they have infected it with lichens, or more likely with "tramp mold" spores that may have accompanied the lichens?
Etymology of "panspermia" ... aren't YOU curious? (Score:3, Informative)
the etymology of panspermia [answers.com]:
Greek panspermia;, mixture of all seeds : pan-, pan- + sperma, seed
That's Not What the Article Said (Score:5, Informative)
What I get from this is that lichens can survive for an undetermined amount of time in space. Assuming they can survive reentry, a rock from Earth could potentially deliver lichens to Mars or elsewhere.
Latest Issue of Scientific American (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&col
I liken this lichen is alien (Score:5, Informative)
From: http://www.lichen.com/biology.html [lichen.com]
They tend to thrive in unfavorable conditions, maybe there could be Lichen on Mars if it had a more stable atmosphere? They could also survive on a rusty hull of a space ship, so the panspermia theory is not too far off.
British Soldier Lichen is also very beautiful:
http://www.buenavistatownship.org/Photos/British%
Re:Feasibility of Panspermia (Score:3, Informative)
If you've got life floating around in your atmosphere, it might not even require ejecta but instead just near collisions with porous asteroids passing through the upper atmosphere.
Re:Already done with mold (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Etymology of "panspermia" ... aren't YOU curiou (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Lightweight idea (Score:5, Informative)
No, you're wrong.
"As it falls through 80 km, it loses 3 to 6 mm of surface mass per second through ablation. The melted material and metal, heated to over 1800 C, is being swept away from the meteoroid, carrying away the accumulating surface heat so efficiently that the interior remains cool."
That was from meteorlab.com. Look it up so that next time you won't be spreading incorrect information.
You want to see if... (Score:3, Informative)
Now that we know lichens can survive exposed to the harsh conditions of space, how about we try it with Karl Rove?
You want to see if the lichens can survive exposed to the harsh conditions of Karl Rove? That's just mean... to the lichens.
PS Eeewwww.
Microscopic image of the lichen after the flight (Score:3, Informative)
Electron microscopic image of the lichen [esa.int] after the flight.
Re:panspermia (Score:3, Informative)
He must be from the future. Today the microwave background is 2.73K. Wait 2.5 billion years and it'll be 2.3K.
That said, in interstellar space the radiation field is a significantly higher temperature than that. 50-100K or so might be more typical within the galaxy.