Earth bacteria on Mars? There goes the n'hood ... maybe

[kap]

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-li...130306.htm

My concern is if Earth has been contaminated by Mars bacteria. The deadly ones.

[Speedy]

[the_poochies]

I wonder if viruses would be able to survive the journey to Mars. They are resilient little suckers.

[Article Accelerator]

the_poochies wrote:
I wonder if viruses would be able to survive the journey to Mars. They are resilient little suckers.

Probably. Even complex organisms may be able to do so. For example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade
"Tardigrades can withstand temperatures from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water. They can survive pressures greater than any found in the deepest ocean trenches and have lived through the vacuum of outer space. They can survive solar radiation, gamma radiation, ionic radiation— at doses hundreds of times higher than would kill a person. They can go without food or water for nearly 10 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce."

[ztirffritz]

I was just going to mention tardigrades. They're cute too.

[Marc Anthony]

the_poochies wrote:
I wonder if viruses would be able to survive the journey to Mars. They are resilient little suckers.

Viruses aren't alive, but you probably meant bacteria. There are some sporulated bacteria from ancient Egypt (pyramid building era) that are still viable today. Microbiology is fascinating.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

ztirffritz wrote:
I was just going to mention tardigrades. They're cute too.

"Tardigrades" describes my stepson's entire high school career.

[mrlynn]

I'd have thought the question was rhetorical, given what we've learned about extremophiles.

/Mr Lynn

[freeradical]

No water = no life

[rjmacs]

freeradical wrote:
No water = no life

You may have missed this, but there's plenty of water on Mars.