does anyone in here have anything mckennesque to say about life from mars?
i've dreamed of marshrooms, spores buried in the ice on mars,
gypsy teleforming long ago on earth.
all i want is speculation, because the imagination holds more juice for me than any scientists speculation ;b
i've dreamed of marshrooms, spores buried in the ice on mars,
gypsy teleforming long ago on earth.
all i want is speculation, because the imagination holds more juice for me than any scientists speculation ;b
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SF Bay Area
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Re: panspermia
11/10Um, McKennesque? I do believe you refer to the late great Terrence McKenna. If so, we're talking psilocybin spores hitching rides on comets to spread consciousness throughout the universe, right?
My biggest problem with panspermia is how the little creatures, though hardy enough for space, survive the impact of a comet with the Earth, an impact that vaporizes most everything for hundreds of miles. But if bacteria can live on nuclear reactor rods, then maybe they can survive an impact.
Fascinating stuff. Now, where'd I put that ayahuasca tea? -
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Unsu...
Re: panspermia
11/10The problem of impact survival is not actually as big as it might seem. Because meteorites ablate on atmospheric entry, the material that is blown off carries away most of the heat. The heat-induced "fusion crusts" on meteorites are no more than a few millimeters thick. Surviving the initial expulsion from a planetary surface is equally simple for microorganisms because the ejected material tends to be the rock far from the impact, thus the temperature is never that high then either.
The shock of the impact can be significant, but not necessarily enough to destroy bacteria or, though I don't know the details of this part very well.
This is why the news that lichen and bacteria can survive well in space is good for the panspermia concept, because this seems to be the biggest hurdle to overcome.
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Re: panspermia
07/05
The main reason why this is possible is that bacteria are _tiny_. When a meteor crashes to the Earth, although the surface of the rock is white-hot, the interior may contain cooler spaces.
Assume that the bacteria are distributed evenly through the rock. Most of the bacteria die, but some live, and those which live can (if in an even slightly favorable environment) multiply.
Oh, and while _some_ meteors are big enough to "vaporize most everything for hundreds of miles," not all are -- meteors come in a wide variety of sizes. Sometimes pebbles or dust will survive re-entry (a lot has to do with the angle at which the meteor strikes the atmosphere).
Sincerely Yours,
Jordan
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Re: panspermia
11/11When the building blocks are present, life does seem to find a way. We have already found numerous examples of development and/or survival in extreme and isolated conditions. On earth, there are the independent ecosystems which surround magma vents deep on the ocean floor, driven by expelled sulfur and bacteria which ingest it, leading to a food chain thriving on sulfur instead of sunlight and photosynthesis.
Also, the apparent survival of microbes for years, under more extreme circumstances ...
"The Deep Sleep
The Surveyor probes were the first U.S. spacecraft to land safely on the Moon. In November, 1969, the Surveyor 3 spacecraft's microorganisms were recovered from inside its camera that was brought back to Earth under sterile conditions by the Apollo 12 crew.
The 50-100 organisms survived launch, space vacuum, 3 years of radiation exposure, deep-freeze at an average temperature of only 20 degrees above absolute zero, and no nutrient, water or energy source" ...
science.nasa.gov/newhome/h...ep98_1.htm
