DailyDirt: Nature Abhors A Vacuum

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Studies have shown that spore-forming bacteria can survive in space under certain conditions, so it doesn't seem so implausible that life -- as we know it -- has accomplished interplanetary travel successfully. Extremophiles living in unexpected places also seems to suggest mounting evidence that life exists on other worlds, even though we have no direct proof of extraterrestrial beings (yet). Here are just a few links related to the growing field of astrobiology.

• NASA microbiologists have classified a new genus (not just a species) of bacteria that can survive in the clean rooms designed to prevent spacecraft from contaminating the rest of the solar system with terrestrial organisms. The bacterium Tersicoccus phoenicis was first found in 2007 in a clean room made for the Mars lander Phoenix, and it's been seen again in another clean room 4,000 km away that housed the ESA's Herschel space telescope. [url]
• When the universe was just 15 million years old, the 'Goldilocks' conditions for supporting life might have existed nearly everywhere -- 10 billion years before life on Earth likely began. No one is actually certain if planets even existed when the universe was that young, but if there were, liquid water and nice ambient temperatures were probably not that hard to find. [url]
• The asteroid that killed off all the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago hit with such force that rocks from Earth could have been ejected out of our atmosphere -- to travel as far as Saturn. Rocks from our planet could have carried life to Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn (as well as the moons of those planets), so if we ever find life elsewhere in our solar system, it might have come from Earth. [url]
• Biomolecules may have formed on asteroids when our sun was much younger and warmer than it is now. The 'Goldilocks' zone for our sun may have included the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but our sun has cooled with age and the asteroid belt isn't a very likely place to find liquid water anymore. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: asteroids, astrobiology, bacteria, et, extraterrestrial, extraterrestrial life, extremophile, life, microbe, planets, seti, space, tersicoccus phoenicis
Companies: esa, nasa

DailyDirt: Watching Our Weight...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

One of the most common new year's resolutions is to try to lose weight and stick to a diet in the coming year. It's an especially obvious resolution to make after eating way too much at family gatherings. Here are just a few links on the topic of eating too much and gaining more than a few extra pounds.

• Bags of snacks that contain just 100 calories worth of goodies are kind of annoying, so how about other ways to indicate calories? Imagine stacks of potato chips where every tenth chip was red -- subtly telling you how many servings you're consuming. [url]
• The Weight of The Nation is an HBO documentary that investigates the issues of obesity and the food industry in the US. Nearly 70% of American adults are overweight or obese, and obesity is a public health issue that can not be ignored. [url]
• An obesity-inducing microbe could be living in our intestines, making us fatter. Fight fire with fire... and ingest some tapeworms! [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: diet, food, microbe, obesity, overweight, weight
Companies: hbo