So... You found bacteria on your swab while orbiting the largest and only known source of bacteria in the universe and you think it might not be from that largest and only known source of bacteria? Bah!
click bait...
Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
61–70 of 81 posts
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#62The suggestion that the bacteria is extraterrestrial in origin is absolutely ridiculous. Much, much, much more research is necessary before such a claim can be made. The speculation on Shkaplerov's part is hugely unprofessional.
I wonder if there's a translation issue here? bacteria that spawned on the ISS' exterior would be extraterrestrial but not alien.
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
>An alternative, albeit unlikely, possibility is that Earth life was originally seeded from somewhere else - panspermia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia . I've seen this hypothesis before. I've also seen the oft repeated assumption that other intelligent life might be out there, more advanced than ours. Crazy though: what if we are the most advanced life in th universe?
If the probabilities are such that it's feasible that we're the first/most advanced life in the universe, then (given our planets comparably young age) it's exceedingly likely that we're the only life in the observable universe. It would be plausible for us to be alone, and it would be plausible for us to be one of the less advanced lifeforms among many, but it would be quite surprising if we'd to be the most advance…
Did they get a head start though? All these atoms bouncing around started with the big bang after all :)
One theory I'm fond of is that we are not alone, but life is so rare that the distances between intelligent civilizations are too vast for us to ever observe them (or vice versa).
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#64Sounds slightly surprising, but the exterior of the ISS is not a sterile environment. There are thousands of ways terrestrial bacteria could have ended up there. I guess the interesting thing is that the bacteria seem to be able to survive the extreme environment. But that's hardly a new discovery about bacteria.
How much energy would it take to get a bacterial cell into orbit? I'm guessing it's so little this could happen quite frequently in a violent storm.
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
OK, but at that point, the "billions of planets out there" argument doesn't work. You're left with the probability of it transferring from a nearby planet.
Right, and the inevitability of it being present in a nearby planet went way up. Because once it started somewhere (and there are billions of 'somewheres') it would spread like a virus and infect every possible receptive environment. The statistics is hard. No simple counting of planets is enough. All the vectors have to be accounted for.
No, the inevitability of it being present in a nearby planet went way up if the probability of it moving from one planet to another planet is decently high - and not otherwise.
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#66Sounds slightly surprising, but the exterior of the ISS is not a sterile environment. There are thousands of ways terrestrial bacteria could have ended up there. I guess the interesting thing is that the bacteria seem to be able to survive the extreme environment. But that's hardly a new discovery about bacteria.
How much energy would it take to get a bacterial cell into orbit? I'm guessing it's so little this could happen quite frequently in a violent storm.
Orbit is doubtful - what natural process could accelerate a bacteria to those speeds after getting it out of the atmosphere? Maybe some bacteria somehow floated up high enough to be hit by the ISS, but I would think they would be obliterated by the impact, despite being microscopic.
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much energy would it take to get a bacterial cell into orbit? I'm guessing it's so little this could happen quite frequently in a violent storm.
Orbit is doubtful - what natural process could accelerate a bacteria to those speeds after getting it out of the atmosphere? Maybe some bacteria somehow floated up high enough to be hit by the ISS, but I would think they would be obliterated by the impact, despite being microscopic.
The usual argument relies on meteor impact throwing detritus into the upper atmosphere. We have rocks from Mars that got here by that means.
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much energy would it take to get a bacterial cell into orbit? I'm guessing it's so little this could happen quite frequently in a violent storm.
Orbit is doubtful - what natural process could accelerate a bacteria to those speeds after getting it out of the atmosphere? Maybe some bacteria somehow floated up high enough to be hit by the ISS, but I would think they would be obliterated by the impact, despite being microscopic.
Given kinetic energy is a function of mass, and bacteria way basically nothing it doesn't seem impossible for them to enter orbit, only improbable.
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#69Sounds slightly surprising, but the exterior of the ISS is not a sterile environment. There are thousands of ways terrestrial bacteria could have ended up there. I guess the interesting thing is that the bacteria seem to be able to survive the extreme environment. But that's hardly a new discovery about bacteria.
What's there around ? solar rays for sure. Enough gazeous particules ? but that's it isn't it ?
Yeah, thin atmosphere, very low humidity, temperature that varies drastically every 45min... what's not to like!
Re: Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station
#70If bacteria have survived on the surface of the ISS, I wonder what we have introduced to the Moon and Mars (and maybe Venus!) on landers. Perhaps they'll be covered in a biome soon.