Panspermia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Panspermia proposes that bodies such as comets transported life forms such as bacteria—complete with their DNA—through space to the Earth

Panspermia (from Ancient Greek πᾶν (pan) 'all', and σπέρμα (sperma) 'seed') is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by space dust,[1] meteoroids,[2] asteroids, comets,[3] and planetoids,[4] as well as by spacecraft carrying unintended contamination by microorganisms.[5][6][7] Panspermia is a fringe theory with little support amongst mainstream scientists.[8] Critics argue that it does not answer the question of the origin of life but merely places it on another celestial body. It was also criticized because it was thought it could not be tested experimentally.[9]

Panspermia hypotheses propose (for example) that microscopic life-forms that can survive the effects of space (such as extremophiles) can become trapped in debris ejected into space after collisions between planets and small Solar System bodies that harbor life.[10] Panspermia studies concentrate not on how life began, but on methods that may distribute it in the Universe.[11][12][13]

Pseudo-panspermia (sometimes called soft panspermia or molecular panspermia) argues that the pre-biotic organic building-blocks of life originated in space, became incorporated in the solar nebula from which planets condensed, and were further—and continuously—distributed to planetary surfaces where life then emerged (abiogenesis).[14][15]

History[]

The first known mention of the term was in the writings of the 5th-century BC Greek philosopher Anaxagoras.[16] Panspermia began to assume a more scientific form through the proposals of Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1834),[17] Hermann E. Richter (1865),[18] Kelvin (1871),[19] Hermann von Helmholtz (1879)[20][21] and finally reaching the level of a detailed scientific hypothesis through the efforts of the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius (1903).[22]

Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) and Chandra Wickramasinghe (born 1939) were influential proponents of panspermia.[23][24] In 1974 they proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic (containing carbon), which Wickramasinghe later proved to be correct.[25][26][27] Hoyle and Wickramasinghe further contended that life forms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution.[28]

Three series of astrobiology experiments have been conducted outside the International Space Station between 2008 and 2015 (EXPOSE) where a wide variety of biomolecules, microorganisms, and their spores were exposed to the solar flux and vacuum of space for about 1.5 years. Some organisms survived in an inactive state for considerable lengths of time,[29][30] and those samples sheltered by simulated meteorite material provide experimental evidence for the likelihood of the hypothetical scenario of lithopanspermia.[31]

Several simulations in laboratories and in low Earth orbit suggest that ejection, entry and impact is survivable for some simple organisms. In 2015, remains of biotic material were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia, when the young Earth was about 400 million years old.[32][33] According to one researcher, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth … then it could be common in the universe."[32]

In April 2018, a Russian team published a paper which disclosed that they found DNA on the exterior of the ISS from land and marine bacteria similar to those previously observed in superficial micro layers at the Barents and Kara seas' coastal zones. They conclude "The presence of the wild land and marine bacteria DNA on the ISS suggests their possible transfer from the stratosphere into the ionosphere with the ascending branch of the global atmospheric electrical circuit. Alternatively, the wild land and marine bacteria as well as the ISS bacteria may all have an ultimate space origin."[34]

In October 2018, Harvard astronomers presented an analytical model that suggests matter—and potentially dormant spores—can be exchanged across the vast distances between galaxies, a process termed 'galactic panspermia', and not be restricted to the limited scale of solar systems.[35][36] The detection of an extra-solar object named ʻOumuamua crossing the inner Solar System in a hyperbolic orbit confirms the existence of a continuing material link with exoplanetary systems.[37]

In November 2019, scientists reported detecting, for the first time, sugar molecules, including ribose, in meteorites, suggesting that chemical processes on asteroids can produce some fundamentally essential bio-ingredients important to life, and supporting the notion of an RNA world prior to a DNA-based origin of life on Earth, and possibly, as well, the notion of panspermia.[38][39]

Proposed mechanisms[]

Panspermia can be said to be either interstellar (between star systems) or interplanetary (between planets in the same star system);[40][41] its transport mechanisms may include comets,[42][43] radiation pressure and lithopanspermia (microorganisms embedded in rocks).[44][45][46] Interplanetary transfer of nonliving material is well documented, as evidenced by meteorites of Martian origin found on Earth.[46] Space probes may also be a viable transport mechanism for interplanetary cross-pollination in the Solar System or even beyond. However, space agencies have implemented planetary protection procedures to reduce the risk of planetary contamination,[47][48] although, as recently discovered, some microorganisms, such as Tersicoccus phoenicis, may be resistant to procedures used in spacecraft assembly clean room facilities.[5][6]

In 2012, mathematician Edward Belbruno and astronomers Amaya Moro-Martín and Renu Malhotra proposed that gravitational low-energy transfer of rocks among the young planets of stars in their birth cluster is commonplace, and not rare in the general galactic stellar population.[49][50] Deliberate directed panspermia from space to seed Earth[51] or sent from Earth to seed other planetary systems have also been proposed.[52][53][54][55] One twist to the hypothesis by engineer Thomas Dehel (2006), proposes that plasmoid magnetic fields ejected from the magnetosphere may move the few spores lifted from the Earth's atmosphere with sufficient speed to cross interstellar space to other systems before the spores can be destroyed.[56][57] In 2020, Paleobiologist Grzegorz Sadlok proposed the hypothesis that life can transit interstellar distances on nomadic exoplanets and/or its exomoons.[58] In 2020, Avi Loeb and Amir Siraj wrote about the possible transfer of life by objects grazing the Earth's atmosphere and reaching exoplanetary systems.[59]

Radiopanspermia[]

In 1903, Svante Arrhenius published in his article The Distribution of Life in Space,[60] the hypothesis now called radiopanspermia, that microscopic forms of life can be propagated in space, driven by the radiation pressure from stars.[61] Arrhenius argued that particles at a critical size below 1.5 μm would be propagated at high speed by radiation pressure of the Sun. However, because its effectiveness decreases with increasing size of the particle, this mechanism holds for very tiny particles only, such as single bacterial spores.[62]

The main criticism of radiopanspermia hypothesis came from Iosif Shklovsky and Carl Sagan, who pointed out the proofs of the lethal action of space radiation (UV and X-rays) in the cosmos.[63] Regardless of the evidence, Wallis and Wickramasinghe argued in 2004 that the transport of individual bacteria or clumps of bacteria, is overwhelmingly more important than lithopanspermia in terms of numbers of microbes transferred, even accounting for the death rate of unprotected bacteria in transit.[64]

Then, data gathered by the orbital experiments ERA, BIOPAN, EXOSTACK and EXPOSE, determined that isolated spores, including those of B. subtilis, were killed if exposed to the full space environment for merely a few seconds, but if shielded against solar UV, the spores were capable of surviving in space for up to six years while embedded in clay or meteorite powder (artificial meteorites).[62][65]

Minimal protection is required to shelter a spore against UV radiation: Exposure of unprotected DNA to solar UV and cosmic ionizing radiation break it up into its constituent bases.[66][67][68] Also, exposing DNA to the ultrahigh vacuum of space alone is sufficient to cause DNA damage, so the transport of unprotected DNA or RNA during interplanetary flights powered solely by light pressure is extremely unlikely.[68]

The feasibility of other means of transport for the more massive shielded spores into the outer Solar System—for example, through gravitational capture by comets—is at this time unknown.

Based on experimental data on radiation effects and DNA stability, it has been concluded that for such long travel times, rocks that are greater than or equal to 1 meter in diameter are required to effectively shield resistant microorganisms, such as bacterial spores against galactic cosmic radiation.[69][70] These results clearly negate the radiopanspermia hypothesis, which requires single spores accelerated by the radiation pressure of the Sun, requiring many years to travel between the planets, and support the likelihood of interplanetary transfer of microorganisms within asteroids or comets, the so-called lithopanspermia hypothesis.[62][65]

Lithopanspermia[]

Lithopanspermia, the transfer of organisms in rocks from one planet to another either through interplanetary or interstellar space, remains speculative. Although there is no evidence that lithopanspermia has occurred in the Solar System, the various stages have become amenable to experimental testing.[9]

  • Planetary ejection – For lithopanspermia to occur, researchers have suggested that microorganisms must survive ejection from a planetary surface, which involves extreme forces of acceleration and shock with associated temperature excursions. Hypothetical values of shock pressures experienced by ejected rocks are obtained with Martian meteorites, which suggest the shock pressures of approximately 5 to 55 GPa, acceleration of 3 Mm/s2 and jerk of 6 Gm/s3 and post-shock temperature increases of about 1 K to 1000 K.[71][72] To determine the effect of acceleration during ejection on microorganisms, rifle and ultracentrifuge methods were successfully used under simulated outer space conditions.[9]
  • Survival in transit – The survival of microorganisms has been studied extensively using both simulated facilities and in low Earth orbit. A large number of microorganisms have been selected for exposure experiments. It is possible to separate these microorganisms into two groups, the human-borne, and the extremophiles. Studying the human-borne microorganisms is significant for human welfare and future manned missions; whilst the extremophiles are vital for studying the physiological requirements of survival in space.[9]
  • Atmospheric entry – An important aspect of the lithopanspermia hypothesis to test is that microbes situated on or within rocks could survive hypervelocity entry from space through Earth's atmosphere (Cockell, 2008). As with planetary ejection, this is experimentally tractable, with sounding rockets and orbital vehicles being used for microbiological experiments.[9][71] B. subtilis spores inoculated onto granite domes were subjected to hypervelocity atmospheric transit (twice) by launch to a ∼120 km altitude on an Orion two-stage rocket. The spores were shown to have survived on the sides of the rock, but they did not survive on the forward-facing surface that was subjected to a maximum temperature of 145 °C.[73] The exogenous arrival of photosynthetic microorganisms could have quite profound consequences for the course of biological evolution on the inoculated planet. As photosynthetic organisms must be close to the surface of a rock to obtain sufficient light energy, atmospheric transit might act as a filter against them by ablating the surface layers of the rock. Although cyanobacteria have been shown to survive the desiccating, freezing conditions of space in orbital experiments, this would be of no benefit as the STONE experiment showed that they cannot survive atmospheric entry.[74] Thus, non-photosynthetic organisms deep within rocks have a chance to survive the exit and entry process. (See also: Impact survival.) Research presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in 2015 suggests that ejection, entry and impact is survivable for some simple organisms.[75][76]

However, it has been argued, that even if organisms survive all 3 stages, the possibility of their immediate survival on a new world still remain relatively low.[77]

Accidental panspermia[]

Thomas Gold, a professor of astronomy, suggested in 1960 the hypothesis of "Cosmic Garbage", that life on Earth might have originated accidentally from a pile of waste products dumped on Earth long ago by extraterrestrial beings.[78]

Directed panspermia[]

Main article: Directed panspermia

Directed panspermia concerns the deliberate transport of microorganisms in space, sent to Earth to start life here, or sent from Earth to seed new planetary systems with life by introduced species of microorganisms on lifeless planets. The Nobel prize winner Francis Crick, along with Leslie Orgel proposed that life may have been purposely spread by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization,[51] but considering an early "RNA world" Crick noted later that life may have originated on Earth.[79] It has been suggested that 'directed' panspermia was proposed in order to counteract various objections, including the argument that microbes would be inactivated by the space environment and cosmic radiation before they could make a chance encounter with Earth.[69]

Conversely, active directed panspermia has been proposed to secure and expand life in space.[54][80] This may be motivated by biotic ethics that values, and seeks to propagate the basic patterns of our organic gene/protein life-form.[81]

A number of publications since 1979 have proposed the idea that directed panspermia could be demonstrated to be the origin of all life on Earth if a distinctive 'signature' message were found, deliberately implanted into either the genome or the genetic code of the first microorganisms by our hypothetical progenitor.[82][83][84][85] In 2013 a team of physicists claimed that they had found mathematical and semiotic patterns in the genetic code which they think is evidence for such a signature.[86][87]

Pseudo-panspermia[]

Further information: List of interstellar and circumstellar molecules and Abiogenesis § Extraterrestrial organic molecules

Pseudo-panspermia (sometimes called soft panspermia, molecular panspermia or quasi-panspermia) proposes that the organic molecules used for life originated in space and were incorporated in the solar nebula, from which the planets condensed and were further—and continuously—distributed to planetary surfaces where life then emerged (abiogenesis).[14][15] From the early 1970s it was becoming evident that interstellar dust consisted of a large component of organic molecules. The first suggestion came from Chandra Wickramasinghe, who proposed a polymeric composition based on the molecule formaldehyde (CH2O).[88]

Interstellar molecules are formed by chemical reactions within very sparse interstellar or circumstellar clouds of dust and gas. Usually this occurs when a molecule becomes ionized, often as the result of an interaction with cosmic rays. This positively charged molecule then draws in a nearby reactant by electrostatic attraction of the neutral molecule's electrons. Molecules can also be generated by reactions between neutral atoms and molecules, although this process is generally slower.[89] The dust plays a critical role of shielding the molecules from the ionizing effect of ultraviolet radiation emitted by stars.[90] Mathematician Jason Guillory in his 2008 analysis of 12C/13C isotopic ratios of organic compounds found in the Murchison meteorite indicates a non-terrestrial origin for these molecules rather than terrestrial contamination. Biologically relevant molecules identified so far include uracil (an RNA nucleobase), and xanthine.[91][92] These results demonstrate that many organic compounds which are components of life on Earth were already present in the early Solar System and may have played a key role in life's origin.[93]

In August 2009, NASA scientists identified one of the fundamental chemical building-blocks of life (the amino acid glycine) in a comet for the first time.[94]

In August 2011, a report, based on NASA studies with meteorites found on Earth, was published suggesting building blocks of DNA (adenine, guanine and related organic molecules) may have been formed extraterrestrially in outer space.[95][96][97] In October 2011, scientists reported that cosmic dust contains complex organic matter ("amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure") that could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars.[98][99][100] One of the scientists suggested that these complex organic compounds may have been related to the development of life on Earth and said that, "If this is the case, life on Earth may have had an easier time getting started as these organics can serve as basic ingredients for life."[98]

In August 2012, and in a world first, astronomers at Copenhagen University reported the detection of a specific sugar molecule, glycolaldehyde, in a distant star system. The molecule was found around the protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422, which is located 400 light years from Earth.[101][102] Glycolaldehyde is needed to form ribonucleic acid, or RNA, which is similar in function to DNA. This finding suggests that complex organic molecules may form in stellar systems prior to the formation of planets, eventually arriving on young planets early in their formation.[103]

In September 2012, NASA scientists reported that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), subjected to interstellar medium (ISM) conditions, are transformed, through hydrogenation, oxygenation and hydroxylation, to more complex organics—"a step along the path toward amino acids and nucleotides, the raw materials of proteins and DNA, respectively".[104][105] Further, as a result of these transformations, the PAHs lose their spectroscopic signature which could be one of the reasons "for the lack of PAH detection in interstellar ice grains, particularly the outer regions of cold, dense clouds or the upper molecular layers of protoplanetary disks."[104][105]

In 2013, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA Project) confirmed that researchers have discovered an important pair of prebiotic molecules in the icy particles in interstellar space (ISM). The chemicals, found in a giant cloud of gas about 25,000 light-years from Earth in ISM, may be a precursor to a key component of DNA and the other may have a role in the formation of an important amino acid. Researchers found a molecule called cyanomethanimine, which produces adenine, one of the four nucleobases that form the "rungs" in the ladder-like structure of DNA.[106]

The other molecule, called ethanamine, is thought to play a role in forming alanine, one of the twenty amino acids in the genetic code. Previously, scientists thought such processes took place in the very tenuous gas between the stars. The new discoveries, however, suggest that the chemical formation sequences for these molecules occurred not in gas, but on the surfaces of ice grains in interstellar space.[106] NASA ALMA scientist Anthony Remijan stated that finding these molecules in an interstellar gas cloud means that important building blocks for DNA and amino acids can 'seed' newly formed planets with the chemical precursors for life.[107]

In March 2013, a simulation experiment indicate that dipeptides (pairs of amino acids) that can be building blocks of proteins, can be created in interstellar dust.[108]

In February 2014, NASA announced a greatly upgraded database for tracking polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the universe. According to scientists, more than 20% of the carbon in the universe may be associated with PAHs, possible starting materials for the formation of life. PAHs seem to have been formed shortly after the Big Bang, are widespread throughout the universe, and are associated with new stars and exoplanets.[109]

In March 2015, NASA scientists reported that, for the first time, complex DNA and RNA organic compounds of life, including uracil, cytosine and thymine, have been formed in the laboratory under outer space conditions, using starting chemicals, such as pyrimidine, found in meteorites. Pyrimidine, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the most carbon-rich chemical found in the Universe, may have been formed in red giants or in interstellar dust and gas clouds, according to the scientists.[110]

In May 2016, the Rosetta Mission team reported the presence of glycine, methylamine and ethylamine in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.[111] This, plus the detection of phosphorus, is consistent with the hypothesis that comets played a crucial role in the emergence of life on Earth.

In 2019, the detection of extraterrestrial sugars in meteorites implied the possibility that extraterrestrial sugars may have contributed to forming functional biopolymers like RNA.[112]

Protospermia[]

Betül Kaçar, the director of the NASA Astrobiology Consortium MUSE, calls sending the chemical capacity for life to emerge on another planetary body protospermia. Reflecting the ethical implications of the possibility that humans are capable of instigating multiple origins of life under a broader array of circumstances than life currently exists, she wrote: "With protospermia, whatever arises after we provide a nudge toward biogenesis would be just as much a product of that environment as our life is of Earth. It would be unique and ‘of’ that destination body as much as its rocks on the ground and the gasses in its atmosphere."[113]

Extraterrestrial life[]

Main article: Extraterrestrial life

The chemistry of life may have begun shortly after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, during a habitable epoch when the Universe was only 10–17 million years old.[114][115][116] According to the panspermia hypothesis, microscopic life—distributed by meteoroids, asteroids and other small Solar System bodies—may exist throughout the universe.[117] Nonetheless, Earth is the only place in the universe known by humans to harbor life.[118][119] Of the bodies on which life is possible, living organisms could most easily enter the other bodies of the Solar System from Enceladus.[120] The sheer number of planets in the Milky Way galaxy, however, may make it probable that life has arisen somewhere else in the galaxy and the universe. It is generally agreed that the conditions required for the evolution of intelligent life as we know it are probably exceedingly rare in the universe, while simultaneously noting that simple single-celled microorganisms may be more likely. [121]

The extrasolar planet results from the Kepler mission estimate 100–400 billion exoplanets, with over 3,500 as candidates or confirmed exoplanets.[clarification needed][122] On 4 November 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of sun-like stars and red dwarf stars within the Milky Way Galaxy.[123][124] 11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting sun-like stars.[125] The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists.[123][124]

It is estimated that space travel over cosmic distances would take an incredibly long time to an outside observer, and with vast amounts of energy required. However, some scientists hypothesize that faster-than-light interstellar space travel might be feasible. This has been explored by NASA scientists since at least 1995.[126]

Hypotheses on extraterrestrial sources of illnesses[]

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have speculated that several outbreaks of illnesses on Earth are of extraterrestrial origins, including the 1918 flu pandemic, and certain outbreaks of polio and mad cow disease. For the 1918 flu pandemic they hypothesized that cometary dust brought the virus to Earth simultaneously at multiple locations—a view almost universally dismissed by experts on this pandemic[citation needed]. Hoyle also speculated that HIV came from outer space.[127]

After Hoyle's death, The Lancet published a letter to the editor from Wickramasinghe and two of his colleagues,[128] in which they hypothesized that the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could be extraterrestrial in origin and not originated from chickens. The Lancet subsequently published three responses to this letter, showing that the hypothesis was not evidence-based, and casting doubts on the quality of the experiments cited by Wickramasinghe in his letter.[129][130][131] A 2008 encyclopedia notes that "Like other claims linking terrestrial disease to extraterrestrial pathogens, this proposal was rejected by the greater research community."[127]

In April 2016, Jiangwen Qu of the Department of Infectious Disease Control in China presented a statistical study suggesting that "extremes of sunspot activity to within plus or minus 1  year may precipitate influenza pandemics." He discussed possible mechanisms of epidemic initiation and early spread, including speculation on primary causation by externally derived viral variants from space via cometary dust.[132]

Case studies[]

  • A meteorite originating from Mars known as ALH84001 was shown in 1996 to contain microscopic structures resembling small terrestrial nanobacteria. When the discovery was announced, many immediately conjectured that these were fossils and were the first evidence of extraterrestrial life—making headlines around the world. Public interest soon started to dwindle as most experts started to agree that these structures were not indicative of life, but could instead be formed abiotically from organic molecules. However, in November 2009, a team of scientists at Johnson Space Center, including David McKay, reasserted that there was "strong evidence that life may have existed on ancient Mars", after having reexamined the meteorite and finding magnetite crystals.[133][134]
  • On May 11, 2001, two researchers from the University of Naples found viable extraterrestrial bacteria inside a meteorite. Geologist Bruno D'Argenio and molecular biologist Giuseppe Geraci found the bacteria wedged inside the crystal structure of minerals, but were resurrected when a sample of the rock was placed in a culture medium. British Antarctic Survey member, David Wynn-Williams responded, pointing out that the bacteria could have been contamination from earth. Luigi Colangelli of the Capodimonte Observatory in Naples noted that the results were inconclusive.[135][136][137]
  • An Indian and British team of researchers led by Chandra Wickramasinghe reported on 2001 that air samples over Hyderabad, India, gathered from the stratosphere by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 21, 2001, contained clumps of living cells.[138] Wickramasinghe calls this "unambiguous evidence for the presence of clumps of living cells in air samples from as high as 41 km, above which no air from lower down would normally be transported".[139][140] Two bacterial and one fungal species were later independently isolated from these filters which were identified as , and Engyodontium album respectively.[141][142] Pushkar Ganesh Vaidya from the Indian Astrobiology Research Centre reported in 2009 that "the three microorganisms captured during the balloon experiment do not exhibit any distinct adaptations expected to be seen in microorganisms occupying a cometary niche".[143][144]
  • In 2005 an improved experiment was conducted by ISRO. On April 20, 2005, air samples were collected from the upper atmosphere at altitudes ranging from 20 km to more than 40 km.[145] The samples were tested at two labs in India. The labs found 12 bacterial and 6 different fungal species in these samples. The fungi were Penicillium decumbens, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Alternaria sp. and . Out of the 12 bacterial samples, three were identified as new species and named Janibacter hoylei (after Fred Hoyle), Bacillus isronensis (named after ISRO) and (named after the ancient Indian mathematician, Aryabhata). These three new species showed that they were more resistant to UV radiation than similar bacteria.[146][147]
Some other researchers have retrieved bacteria from the stratosphere since the 1970s.[148] Atmospheric sampling by NASA in 2010 before and after hurricanes, collected 314 different types of bacteria; the study suggests that large-scale convection during tropical storms and hurricanes can then carry this material from the surface higher up into the atmosphere.[149][150]
  • Another proposed mechanism of spores in the stratosphere is lifting by weather and Earth magnetism up to the ionosphere into low Earth orbit, where Russian astronauts retrieved DNA from a known sterile exterior surface of the International Space Station.[34] The Russian scientists then also speculated the possibility "that common terrestrial bacteria are constantly being resupplied from space."[34]
  • In 2013, Dale Warren Griffin, a microbiologist working at the United States Geological Survey noted that viruses are the most numerous entities on Earth. Griffin speculates that viruses evolved in comets and on other planets and moons may be pathogenic to humans, so he proposed to also look for viruses on moons and planets of the Solar System.[151]

Hoaxes[]

A separate fragment of the Orgueil meteorite (kept in a sealed glass jar since its discovery) was found in 1965 to have a seed capsule embedded in it, whilst the original glassy layer on the outside remained undisturbed. Despite great initial excitement, the seed was found to be that of a European Juncaceae or Rush plant that had been glued into the fragment and camouflaged using coal dust. The outer "fusion layer" was in fact glue. Whilst the perpetrator of this hoax is unknown, it is thought that they sought to influence the 19th century debate on spontaneous generation—rather than panspermia—by demonstrating the transformation of inorganic to biological matter.[152]

Extremophiles[]

See also: Extremophile
Hydrothermal vents are able to support extremophile bacteria on Earth and may also support life in other parts of the cosmos.

Until the 1970s, life was thought to depend on its access to sunlight. Even life in the ocean depths, where sunlight cannot reach, was believed to obtain its nourishment either from consuming organic detritus rained down from the surface waters or from eating animals that did.[153] However, in 1977, during an exploratory dive to the Galapagos Rift in the deep-sea exploration submersible Alvin, scientists discovered colonies of assorted creatures clustered around undersea volcanic features known as black smokers.[153]

It was soon determined that the basis for this food chain is a form of bacterium that derives its energy from oxidation of reactive chemicals, such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, that bubble up from the Earth's interior. This chemosynthesis revolutionized the study of biology by revealing that terrestrial life need not be Sun-dependent; it only requires water and an energy gradient in order to exist.

It is now known that extremophiles, microorganisms with extraordinary capability to thrive in the harshest environments on Earth, can specialize to thrive in the deep-sea,[154][155][156] ice, boiling water, acid, the water core of nuclear reactors, salt crystals, toxic waste and in a range of other extreme habitats that were previously thought to be inhospitable for life.[157][158][159][160] Living bacteria found in ice core samples retrieved from 3,700 metres (12,100 ft) deep at Lake Vostok in Antarctica, have provided data for extrapolations to the likelihood of microorganisms surviving frozen in extraterrestrial habitats or during interplanetary transport.[161] Also, bacteria have been discovered living within warm rock deep in the Earth's crust.[162] Metallosphaera sedula can grow on meteorites in a lab.[163][164]

In order to test some of these organisms' potential resilience in outer space, plant seeds and spores of bacteria, fungi and ferns have been exposed to the harsh space environment.[159][160][165] Spores are produced as part of the normal life cycle of many plants, algae, fungi and some protozoans, and some bacteria produce endospores or cysts during times of stress. These structures may be highly resilient to ultraviolet and gamma radiation, desiccation, lysozyme, temperature, starvation and chemical disinfectants, while metabolically inactive. Spores germinate when favourable conditions are restored after exposure to conditions fatal to the parent organism.

Although computer models suggest that a captured meteoroid would typically take some tens of millions of years before collision with a planet,[49] there are documented viable Earthly bacterial spores that are 40 million years old that are very resistant to radiation,[49][55] and others able to resume life after being dormant for 100 million years,[166][167] suggesting that lithopanspermia life-transfers are possible via meteorites exceeding 1 m in size.[49]

The discovery of deep-sea ecosystems, along with advancements in the fields of astrobiology, observational astronomy and discovery of large varieties of extremophiles, opened up a new avenue in astrobiology by massively expanding the number of possible extraterrestrial habitats and possible transport of hardy microbial life through vast distances.[9]

Research in outer space[]

See also: List of microorganisms tested in outer space

The question of whether certain microorganisms can survive in the harsh environment of outer space has intrigued biologists since the beginning of spaceflight, and opportunities were provided to expose samples to space. The first American tests were made in 1966, during the Gemini IX and XII missions, when samples of bacteriophage T1 and spores of Penicillium roqueforti were exposed to outer space for 16.8 h and 6.5 h, respectively.[62][9] Other basic life sciences research in low Earth orbit started in 1966 with the Soviet biosatellite program Bion and the U.S. Biosatellite program. Thus, the plausibility of panspermia can be evaluated by examining life forms on Earth for their capacity to survive in space.[168] The following experiments carried on low Earth orbit specifically tested some aspects of panspermia or lithopanspermia:

ERA[]

EURECA facility deployment in 1992

The Exobiology Radiation Assembly (ERA) was a 1992 experiment on board the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) on the biological effects of space radiation. EURECA was an unmanned 4.5 tonne satellite with a payload of 15 experiments.[169] It was an astrobiology mission developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). Spores of different strains of Bacillus subtilis and the Escherichia coli plasmid pUC19 were exposed to selected conditions of space (space vacuum and/or defined wavebands and intensities of solar ultraviolet radiation). After the approximately 11-month mission, their responses were studied in terms of survival, mutagenesis in the his (B. subtilis) or lac locus (pUC19), induction of DNA strand breaks, efficiency of DNA repair systems, and the role of external protective agents. The data were compared with those of a simultaneously running ground control experiment:[170][171]

  • The survival of spores treated with the vacuum of space, however shielded against solar radiation, is substantially increased, if they are exposed in multilayers and/or in the presence of glucose as protective.
  • All spores in "artificial meteorites", i.e. embedded in clays or simulated Martian soil, are killed.
  • Vacuum treatment leads to an increase of mutation frequency in spores, but not in plasmid DNA.
  • Extraterrestrial solar ultraviolet radiation is mutagenic, induces strand breaks in the DNA and reduces survival substantially.
  • Action spectroscopy confirms results of previous space experiments of a synergistic action of space vacuum and solar UV radiation with DNA being the critical target.
  • The decrease in viability of the microorganisms could be correlated with the increase in DNA damage.
  • The purple membranes, amino acids and urea were not measurably affected by the dehydrating condition of open space, if sheltered from solar radiation. Plasmid DNA, however, suffered a significant amount of strand breaks under these conditions.[170]

BIOPAN[]

BIOPAN is a multi-user experimental facility installed on the external surface of the Russian Foton descent capsule. Experiments developed for BIOPAN are designed to investigate the effect of the space environment on biological material after exposure between 13 and 17 days.[172] The experiments in BIOPAN are exposed to solar and cosmic radiation, the space vacuum and weightlessness, or a selection thereof. Of the 6 missions flown so far on BIOPAN between 1992 and 2007, dozens of experiments were conducted, and some analyzed the likelihood of panspermia. Some bacteria, lichens (Xanthoria elegans, Rhizocarpon geographicum and their mycobiont cultures, the black Antarctic microfungi Cryomyces minteri and Cryomyces antarcticus), spores, and even one animal (tardigrades) were found to have survived the harsh outer space environment and cosmic radiation.[173][174][175][176]

EXOSTACK[]

EXOSTACK on the Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite.

The German EXOSTACK experiment was deployed on 7 April 1984 on board the Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite. 30% of Bacillus subtilis spores survived the nearly 6 years exposure when embedded in salt crystals, whereas 80% survived in the presence of glucose, which stabilize the structure of the cellular macromolecules, especially during vacuum-induced dehydration.[62][177]

If shielded against solar UV, spores of B. subtilis were capable of surviving in space for up to 6 years, especially if embedded in clay or meteorite powder (artificial meteorites). The data support the likelihood of interplanetary transfer of microorganisms within meteorites, the so-called lithopanspermia hypothesis.[62]

EXPOSE[]

Location of the astrobiology EXPOSE-E and EXPOSE-R facilities on the International Space Station

EXPOSE is a multi-user facility mounted outside the International Space Station dedicated to astrobiology experiments.[165] There have been three EXPOSE experiments flown between 2008 and 2015: EXPOSE-E, EXPOSE-R and EXPOSE-R2.
Results from the orbital missions, especially the experiments SEEDS[178] and LiFE,[179] concluded that after an 18-month exposure, some seeds and lichens (Stichococcus sp. and Acarospora sp., a lichenized fungal genus) may be capable to survive interplanetary travel if sheltered inside comets or rocks from cosmic radiation and UV radiation.[165][180] The LIFE, SPORES, and SEEDS parts of the experiments provided information about the likelihood of lithopanspermia.[181][182][183] These studies will provide experimental data to the lithopanspermia hypothesis,[182] and they will provide basic data to planetary protection issues.

Tanpopo[]

Dust collector with aerogel blocks
Main article: Tanpopo (mission)

The Tanpopo mission is an orbital astrobiology experiment by Japan that is currently investigating the possible interplanetary transfer of life, organic compounds, and possible terrestrial particles in low Earth orbit. The Tanpopo experiment took place at the Exposed Facility located on the exterior of Kibo module of the International Space Station. The mission collected cosmic dusts and other particles for three years by using an ultra-low density silica gel called aerogel. The purpose is to assess the panspermia hypothesis and the possibility of natural interplanetary transport of life and its precursors.[184][185] Some of these aerogels were replaced every one or two years through 2018.[186] Sample collection began in May 2015, and the first samples were returned to Earth in mid-2016.[187] In August 2020, scientists reported that bacteria from Earth, particularly Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria, which is highly resistant to environmental hazards, were found to survive for three years in outer space, based on studies conducted on the International Space Station.[188][189]

Hayabusa2[]

Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample-return mission. In 2020, the spacecraft brought back a capsule containing a sample of carbon-rich asteroid dust from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu.[190] Scientists believe this could provide clues about the ancient delivery of water and organic molecules to Earth. Seiichiro Watanabe from the Hayabusa project said: “There are a lot of samples and it seems they contain plenty of organic matter, so I hope we can find out many things about how organic substances have developed on the parent body of Ryugu.”[191]

See also[]

  • Abiogenesis – Natural process by which life arises from non-living matter
  • Anthropic principle – Philosophical premise that all scientific observations presuppose a universe compatible with the emergence of sentient organisms that make those observations
  • Astrobiology – Science concerned with life in the universe
  • Astrobiology journal
  • Astrobiology Magazine
  • Cryptobiosis
  • Drake equation – Probabilistic argument to estimate the number of alien civilizations in the galaxy
  • Earliest known life forms – Putative fossilized microorganisms found near hydrothermal vents
  • Ejecta
  • Fermi paradox – Contradiction between lack of evidence and high probability estimates for existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
  • Fine-tuned universe – Hypothesis about life in the universe
  • Interplanetary contamination – Biological contamination of a planetary body by a space probe or spacecraft
  • List of microorganisms tested in outer space – Wikipedia list article
  • Planetary protection – Guiding principle in the design of an interplanetary mission, aiming to prevent biological contamination of both the target celestial body and the Earth
  • Rare Earth hypothesis – Hypothesis that complex extraterrestrial life is improbable and extremely rare
  • Red rain in Kerala – episodes of rain containing vast amounts of red algal spores in India
  • Tanpopo (mission) – 2015–18 ISS astrobiology experiment
  • Tholin – Class of molecules formed by ultraviolet irradiation of organic compounds

References[]

  1. ^ Berera, Arjun (6 November 2017). "Space dust collisions as a planetary escape mechanism". Astrobiology. 17 (12): 1274–82. arXiv:1711.01895. Bibcode:2017AsBio..17.1274B. doi:10.1089/ast.2017.1662. PMID 29148823. S2CID 126012488.
  2. ^ Chan, Queenie H. S. et al. (10 January 2018). "Organic matter in extraterrestrial water-bearing salt crystals". Science Advances. 4 (1): eaao3521. Bibcode:2018SciA....4O3521C. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aao3521. PMC 5770164. PMID 29349297.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. ^ Wickramasinghe, Chandra (2011). "Bacterial morphologies supporting cometary panspermia: a reappraisal". International Journal of Astrobiology. 10 (1): 25–30. Bibcode:2011IJAsB..10...25W. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.368.4449. doi:10.1017/S1473550410000157. S2CID 7262449.
  4. ^ Rampelotto, P. H. (2010). "Panspermia: A promising field of research" (PDF). Astrobiology Science Conference. 1538: 5224. Bibcode:2010LPICo1538.5224R.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Forward planetary contamination like Tersicoccus phoenicis, that has shown resistance to methods usually used in spacecraft assembly clean rooms: Madhusoodanan, Jyoti (May 19, 2014). "Microbial stowaways to Mars identified". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2014.15249. S2CID 87409424.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Webster, Guy (November 6, 2013). "Rare New Microbe Found in Two Distant Clean Rooms". NASA.gov. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Staff - Purdue University (27 February 2018). "Tesla in space could carry bacteria from Earth". phys.org. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  8. ^ May, Andrew (2019). Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe. London. ISBN 978-1-78578-342-5. OCLC 999440041. Although they were part of the scientific establishment – Hoyle at Cambridge and Wickramasinghe at the University of Wales – their views on the topic were far from mainstream, and panspermia remains a fringe theory
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Olsson-Francis, Karen; Cockell, Charles S. (2010). "Experimental methods for studying microbial survival in extraterrestrial environments". Journal of Microbiological Methods. 80 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2009.10.004. PMID 19854226.
  10. ^ Chotiner, Isaac (8 July 2019). "What If Life Did Not Originate on Earth?". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  11. ^ A variation of the panspermia hypothesis is necropanspermia which astronomer Paul Wesson describes as follows: "The vast majority of organisms reach a new home in the Milky Way in a technically dead state … Resurrection may, however, be possible." Grossman, Lisa (2010-11-10). "All Life on Earth Could Have Come From Alien Zombies". Wired. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  12. ^ Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1981). Evolution from Space. Simon & Schuster Inc., NY, and J.M. Dent and Son, London (1981), ch3 pp. 35–49.
  13. ^ Wickramasinghe, J., Wickramasinghe, C. and Napier, W. (2010). Comets and the Origin of Life. World Scientific, Singapore. ch. 6 pp. 137–54. ISBN 981-256-635-X
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b Klyce, Brig (2001). "Panspermia Asks New Questions". Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Klyce, Brig (2001). "Panspermia asks new questions". In Kingsley, Stuart A; Bhathal, Ragbir (eds.). The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum III. Proc. SPIE. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum III. 4273. pp. 11–14. Bibcode:2001SPIE.4273...11K. doi:10.1117/12.435366. S2CID 122849901.
  16. ^ O'Leary, Margater (2008). Anaxagoras and the Origin of Panspermia Theory. iUniverse Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-595-49596-2.
  17. ^ Berzelius, J. J. (1834). "Analysis of the Alais meteorite and implications about life in other worlds". Liebigs Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 10: 134–35.
  18. ^ Rothschild, Lynn J.; Lister, Adrian M. (June 2003). Evolution on Planet Earth – The Impact of the Physical Environment. Academic Press. pp. 109–27. ISBN 978-0-12-598655-7.
  19. ^ Thomson (Lord Kelvin), W. (1871). "Inaugural Address to the British Association Edinburgh. 'We must regard it as probably to the highest degree that there are countless seed-bearing meteoritic stones moving through space.'". Nature. 4 (92): 261–78 [262]. Bibcode:1871Natur...4..261.. doi:10.1038/004261a0. PMC 2070380.
  20. ^ "The word: Panspermia". New Scientist (2541). 7 March 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  21. ^ "History of Panspermia". Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  22. ^ Arrhenius, S. (1908). Worlds in the Making: The Evolution of the Universe. New York: Harper & Row. Bibcode:1908wmeu.book.....A.
  23. ^ Napier, W.M. (2007). "Pollination of exoplanets by nebulae". Int. J. Astrobiol. 6 (3): 223–28. Bibcode:2007IJAsB...6..223N. doi:10.1017/S1473550407003710. S2CID 122742509.
  24. ^ Line, M.A. (2007). "Panspermia in the context of the timing of the origin of life and microbial phylogeny". Int. J. Astrobiol. 3. 6 (3): 249–54. Bibcode:2007IJAsB...6..249L. doi:10.1017/S1473550407003813. S2CID 86569201.
  25. ^ Wickramasinghe, D. T.; Allen, D. A. (1980). "The 3.4-µm interstellar absorption feature". Nature. 287 (5782): 518–19. Bibcode:1980Natur.287..518W. doi:10.1038/287518a0. S2CID 4352356.
  26. ^ Allen, D. A.; Wickramasinghe, D. T. (1981). "Diffuse interstellar absorption bands between 2.9 and 4.0 µm". Nature. 294 (5838): 239–40. Bibcode:1981Natur.294..239A. doi:10.1038/294239a0. S2CID 4335356.
  27. ^ Wickramasinghe, D. T.; Allen, D. A. (1983). "Three components of 3–4 μm absorption bands". Astrophysics and Space Science. 97 (2): 369–78. Bibcode:1983Ap&SS..97..369W. doi:10.1007/BF00653492. S2CID 121109158.
  28. ^ Fred Hoyle; Chandra Wickramasinghe & John Watson (1986). Viruses from Space and Related Matters. University College Cardiff Press.
  29. ^ Cockell, Charles S. (19 May 2011). "Exposure of phototrophs to 548 days in low Earth orbit: microbial selection pressures in outer space and on early earth". The ISME Journal. 5 (10): 1671–82. doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.46. PMC 3176519. PMID 21593797.
  30. ^ Amos, Jonathan (23 Aug 2010). "Beer microbes live 553 days outside ISS". BBC News. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  31. ^ Panitz, Corinna; Horneck, Gerda; Rabbow, Elke; Petra Rettberg, Petra; Moeller, Ralf (January 2015). "The SPORES experiment of the EXPOSE-R mission: Bacillus subtilis spores in artificial meteorites". International Journal of Astrobiology. 14 (Special Issue 1): 105–14. Bibcode:2015IJAsB..14..105P. doi:10.1017/S1473550414000251. S2CID 4804915.
  32. ^ Jump up to: a b Borenstein, Seth (19 October 2015). "Hints of life on what was thought to be desolate early Earth". Associated Press. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  33. ^ Bell, Elizabeth A.; Boehnike, Patrick; Harrison, T. Mark; et al. (19 October 2015). "Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112 (47): 214518–21. Bibcode:2015PNAS..11214518B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1517557112. PMC 4664351. PMID 26483481.
  34. ^ Jump up to: a b c Grebennikova, T. V.; Syroeshkin, A. V.; Shubralova, E. V.; Eliseeva, O. V.; Kostina, L. V.; Kulikova, N. Y.; Latyshev, O. E.; Morozova, M. A.; Yuzhakov, A. G.; Zlatskiy, I. A.; Chichaeva, M. A.; Tsygankov, O. S. (2018). "The DNA of Bacteria of the World Ocean and the Earth in Cosmic Dust at the International Space Station". The Scientific World Journal. 2018: 1–7. doi:10.1155/2018/7360147. PMC 5932454. PMID 29849510.
  35. ^ Shostak, Seth (26 October 2018). "Comets and asteroids may be spreading life across the galaxy – Are germs from outer space the source of life on Earth?". NBC News. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  36. ^ Ginsburg, Idan; Lingam, Manasvi; Loeb, Abraham (19 November 2018). "Galactic Panspermia". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 868 (1): L12. arXiv:1810.04307v2. Bibcode:2018ApJ...868L..12G. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aaef2d. S2CID 119084109.
  37. ^ Oumuamua (A/2017U1) – A Confirmation of Links between Galactic Planetary Systems. (PDF) N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Edward J. Steele, Daryl. H. Wallis, Robert Temple, Gensuke Tokoro, Janaki T. Wickramasinghe. 2018.
  38. ^ Steigerwald, Bill; Jones, Nancy; Furukawa, Yoshihiro (18 November 2019). "First Detection of Sugars in Meteorites Gives Clues to Origin of Life". NASA. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  39. ^ Furukawa, Yoshihiro; et al. (18 November 2019). "Extraterrestrial ribose and other sugars in primitive meteorites". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 116 (49): 24440–45. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11624440F. doi:10.1073/pnas.1907169116. PMC 6900709. PMID 31740594.
  40. ^ Khan, Amina (7 March 2014). "Did two planets around nearby star collide? Toxic gas holds hints". LA Times. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  41. ^ Dent, W. R. F.; Wyatt, M. C.; Roberge, A.; et al. (6 March 2014). "Molecular Gas Clumps from the Destruction of Icy Bodies in the β Pictoris Debris Disk". Science. 343 (6178): 1490–92. arXiv:1404.1380. Bibcode:2014Sci...343.1490D. doi:10.1126/science.1248726. PMID 24603151. S2CID 206553853.
  42. ^ Wickramasinghe, Chandra; Wickramasinghe, Chandra; Napier, William (2009). Comets and the Origin of Life. World Scientific Press. doi:10.1142/6008. ISBN 978-981-256-635-5.
  43. ^ Wall, Mike. "Comet Impacts May Have Jump-Started Life on Earth". space.com. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  44. ^ Weber, P; Greenberg, J. M. (1985). "Can spores survive in interstellar space?". Nature. 316 (6027): 403–07. Bibcode:1985Natur.316..403W. doi:10.1038/316403a0. S2CID 4351813.
  45. ^ Melosh, H. J. (1988). "The rocky road to panspermia". Nature. 332 (6166): 687–88. Bibcode:1988Natur.332..687M. doi:10.1038/332687a0. PMID 11536601. S2CID 30762112.
  46. ^ Jump up to: a b C. Mileikowsky; F. A. Cucinotta; J. W. Wilson; et al. (2000). "Risks threatening viable transfer of microbes between bodies in our solar system". Planetary and Space Science. 48 (11): 1107–15. Bibcode:2000P&SS...48.1107M. doi:10.1016/S0032-0633(00)00085-4.
  47. ^ "Studies Focus On Spacecraft Sterilization". The Aerospace Corporation. July 30, 2000. Archived from the original on 2006-05-02.
  48. ^ "Dry heat sterilisation process to high temperatures". European Space Agency. 22 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-02-01.
  49. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Edward Belbruno; Amaya Moro-Martı´n; Malhotra, Renu & Savransky, Dmitry (2012). "Chaotic Exchange of Solid Material between Planetary". Astrobiology. 12 (8): 754–74. arXiv:1205.1059. Bibcode:2012AsBio..12..754B. doi:10.1089/ast.2012.0825. PMC 3440031. PMID 22897115.
  50. ^ Kelly, Morgan (September 24, 2012). "Slow-moving rocks better odds that life crashed to Earth from space". Princeton University.
  51. ^ Jump up to: a b Crick, F. H.; Orgel, L. E. (1973). "Directed Panspermia". Icarus. 19 (3): 341–48. Bibcode:1973Icar...19..341C. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.599.5067. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(73)90110-3.
  52. ^ Mautner, Michael N. (2000). Seeding the Universe with Life: Securing Our Cosmological Future (PDF). Washington DC. ISBN 978-0-476-00330-9.
  53. ^ Mautner, M; Matloff, G. (1979). "Directed panspermia: A technical evaluation of seeding nearby planetary systems" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 32: 419. Bibcode:1979JBIS...32..419M.
  54. ^ Jump up to: a b Mautner, M. N. (1997). "Directed panspermia. 3. Strategies and motivation for seeding star-forming clouds" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. 50: 93–102. Bibcode:1997JBIS...50...93M.
  55. ^ Jump up to: a b "Impacts 'more likely' to have spread life from Earth". BBC. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  56. ^ Chandler, David L. (21 July 2006). "Electromagnetic space travel for bugs?". New Scientist. Archived from the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  57. ^ Dehel, T. (2006-07-23). "Uplift and Outflow of Bacterial Spores via Electric Field". 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 16–23 July 2006. 36: 1. arXiv:hep-ph/0612311. Bibcode:2006cosp...36....1D.
  58. ^ Sadlok, Grzegorz (2020-02-07). "On A Hypothetical Mechanism of Interstellar Life Transfer Trough Nomadic Objects". Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres. 50 (1–2): 87–96. Bibcode:2020OLEB...50...87S. doi:10.1007/s11084-020-09591-z. ISSN 1573-0875. PMID 32034615.
  59. ^ Siraj, Amir; Loeb, Abraham (2020-04-17). "Possible Transfer of Life by Earth-Grazing Objects to Exoplanetary Systems". Life. Vol. 10 no. 4. p. 44. arXiv:2001.02235. doi:10.3390/life10040044. ISSN 2075-1729. PMC 7235815. PMID 32316564.
  60. ^ Arrhenius, Svante (1903). "Die Verbreitung des Lebens im Weltenraum" [The Distribution of Life in Space]. Die Umschau (in German).
  61. ^ Nicholson, Wayne L. (2009). "Ancient micronauts: Interplanetary transport of microbes by cosmic impacts". Trends in Microbiology. 17 (6): 243–50. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2009.03.004. PMID 19464895.
  62. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Horneck, G.; Klaus, D. M.; Mancinelli, R. L. (2010). "Space Microbiology". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 74 (1): 121–56. Bibcode:2010MMBR...74..121H. doi:10.1128/MMBR.00016-09. PMC 2832349. PMID 20197502.
  63. ^ Shklovskii, I.S.; Sagan, Carl (1966). Intelligent Life in the Universe. Emerson-Adams Press. ISBN 978-1-892803-02-3.[page needed]
  64. ^ Wickramasinghe, M.K.; Wickramasinghe, C. (2004). "Interstellar transfer of planetary microbiota". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 348 (1): 52–57. Bibcode:2004MNRAS.348...52W. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07355.x.
  65. ^ Jump up to: a b Horneck, G.; Rettberg, P.; Reitz, G.; et al. (2001). "Protection of bacterial spores in space, a contribution to the discussion on panspermia". Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere. 31 (6): 527–47. Bibcode:2002ESASP.518..105R. doi:10.1023/A:1012746130771. PMID 11770260. S2CID 24304433.
  66. ^ Rahn, R.O.; Hosszu, J.L. (1969). "Influence of relative humidity on the photochemistry of DNA films". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 190 (1): 126–31. doi:10.1016/0005-2787(69)90161-0. PMID 4898489.
  67. ^ Patrick, M.H.; Gray, D.M. (1976). "Independence of photproduct formation on DNA conformation". Photochem. Photobiol. 24 (6): 507–13. doi:10.1111/j.1751-1097.1976.tb06867.x. PMID 1019243. S2CID 12711656.
  68. ^ Jump up to: a b Nicholson, Wayne L.; Schuerger, Andrew C.; Setlow, Peter (21 January 2005). "The solar UV environment and bacterial spore UV resistance: considerations for Earth-to-Mars transport by natural processes and human spaceflight" (PDF). Mutation Research. 571 (1–2): 249–64. doi:10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2004.10.012. PMID 15748651. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  69. ^ Jump up to: a b Clark, Benton C. Clark (February 2001). "Planetary Interchange of Bioactive Material: Probability Factors and Implications". Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere. 31 (1–2): 185–97. Bibcode:2001OLEB...31..185C. doi:10.1023/A:1006757011007. PMID 11296521. S2CID 12580294.
  70. ^ Mileikowsky, C.; Cucinotta, F.A.; Wilson, J.W.; et al. (2000). "Natural transfer of microbes in space, part I: from Mars to Earth and Earth to Mars". Icarus. 145 (2): 391–427. Bibcode:2000Icar..145..391M. doi:10.1006/icar.1999.6317. PMID 11543506.
  71. ^ Jump up to: a b Cockell, Charles S. (2007). "The Interplanetary Exchange of Photosynthesis". Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres. 38 (1): 87–104. Bibcode:2008OLEB...38...87C. doi:10.1007/s11084-007-9112-3. PMID 17906941. S2CID 5720456.
  72. ^ Horneck, Gerda; Stöffler, Dieter; Ott, Sieglinde; et al. (2008). "Microbial Rock Inhabitants Survive Hypervelocity Impacts on Mars-Like Host Planets: First Phase of Lithopanspermia Experimentally Tested". Astrobiology. 8 (1): 17–44. Bibcode:2008AsBio...8...17H. doi:10.1089/ast.2007.0134. PMID 18237257.
  73. ^ Fajardo-Cavazos, Patricia; Link, Lindsey; Melosh, H. Jay; Nicholson, Wayne L. (2005). "Bacillus subtilis Spores on Artificial Meteorites Survive Hypervelocity Atmospheric Entry: Implications for Lithopanspermia". Astrobiology. 5 (6): 726–36. Bibcode:2005AsBio...5..726F. doi:10.1089/ast.2005.5.726. PMID 16379527.
  74. ^ Cockell, Charles S.; Brack, André; Wynn-Williams, David D.; Baglioni, Pietro; et al. (2007). "Interplanetary Transfer of Photosynthesis: An Experimental Demonstration of a Selective Dispersal Filter in Planetary Island Biogeography". Astrobiology. 7 (1): 1–9. Bibcode:2007AsBio...7....1C. doi:10.1089/ast.2006.0038. PMID 17407400.
  75. ^ "Could Life Have Survived a Fall to Earth?". EPSC. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
  76. ^ Boyle, Rebecca (2017-05-16). "Microbes might thrive after crash-landing on board a meteorite". New Scientist. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  77. ^ von Hegner, Ian (2020). "Interplanetary transmissions of life in an evolutionary context". International Journal of Astrobiology. 19 (4): 335–348. arXiv:2003.01624. Bibcode:2020IJAsB..19..335V. doi:10.1017/S1473550420000099. S2CID 211817756.
  78. ^ Gold, T. "Cosmic Garbage", Air Force and Space Digest, 65 (May 1960).
  79. ^ Orgel, L E; Crick, F H (January 1993). "Anticipating an RNA world. Some past speculations on the origin of life: where are they today?". The FASEB Journal. 7 (1): 238–239. doi:10.1096/fasebj.7.1.7678564. PMID 7678564. S2CID 11314345.
  80. ^ "Seeding the Milky Way with life using 'Genesis missions'". phys.org. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  81. ^ Mautner, Michael N. (2009). "Life-centered ethics, and the human future in space" (PDF). Bioethics. 23 (8): 433–40. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00688.x. PMID 19077128. S2CID 25203457.
  82. ^ Marx, G. (1979). "Message through time". Acta Astronautica. 6 (1–2): 221–25. Bibcode:1979AcAau...6..221M. doi:10.1016/0094-5765(79)90158-9.
  83. ^ Yokoo, H.; Oshima, T. (1979). "Is bacteriophage φX174 DNA a message from an extraterrestrial intelligence?". Icarus. 38 (1): 148–53. Bibcode:1979Icar...38..148Y. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(79)90094-0.
  84. ^ Overbye, Dennis (26 June 2007). "Human DNA, the Ultimate Spot for Secret Messages (Are Some There Now?)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
  85. ^ Davies, Paul C.W. (2010). The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-13324-9.[page needed]
  86. ^ Shcherbak, Vladimir I.; Makukov, Maxim A. (2013). "The "Wow! signal" of the terrestrial genetic code". Icarus. 224 (1): 228–42. arXiv:1303.6739. Bibcode:2013Icar..224..228S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.02.017. S2CID 16507813.
  87. ^ Makukov, Maxim A.; Shcherbak, Vladimir I. (2014). "Space ethics to test directed panspermia". Life Sciences in Space Research. 3: 10–17. arXiv:1407.5618. Bibcode:2014LSSR....3...10M. doi:10.1016/j.lssr.2014.07.003. S2CID 85022083.
  88. ^ Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1974). "Formaldehyde Polymers in Interstellar Space". Nature. 252 (5483): 462–63. Bibcode:1974Natur.252..462W. doi:10.1038/252462a0. S2CID 4260499.
  89. ^ Dalgarno, A. (2006). "The galactic cosmic ray ionization rate". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (33): 12269–73. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10312269D. doi:10.1073/pnas.0602117103. PMC 1567869. PMID 16894166.
  90. ^ Brown, Laurie M.; Pais, Abraham; Pippard, A. B. (1995). "The physics of the interstellar medium". Twentieth Century Physics (2nd ed.). CRC Press. p. 1765. ISBN 978-0-7503-0310-1.
  91. ^ Martins, Zita; Botta, Oliver; Fogel, Marilyn L.; Sephton, Mark A.; Glavin, Daniel P.; Watson, Jonathan S.; Dworkin, Jason P.; Schwartz, Alan W.; Ehrenfreund, Pascale (2008). "Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 270 (1–2): 130–36. arXiv:0806.2286. Bibcode:2008E&PSL.270..130M. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.026. S2CID 14309508.
  92. ^ "We may all be space aliens: study". AFP. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  93. ^ Martins, Zita; Botta, Oliver; Fogel, Marilyn L.; Sephton, Mark A.; Glavin, Daniel P.; Watson, Jonathan S.; Dworkin, Jason P.; Schwartz, Alan W.; Ehrenfreund, Pascale (2008). "Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 270 (1–2): 130–36. arXiv:0806.2286. Bibcode:2008E&PSL.270..130M. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.026. S2CID 14309508.
  94. ^ "'Life chemical' detected in comet". NASA. BBC News. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  95. ^ Callahan, M. P.; Smith, K. E.; Cleaves, H. J.; Ruzicka, J.; et al. (2011). "Carbonaceous meteorites contain a wide range of extraterrestrial nucleobases". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (34): 13995–98. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10813995C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1106493108. PMC 3161613. PMID 21836052.
  96. ^ Steigerwald, John (8 August 2011). "NASA Researchers: DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space". NASA. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  97. ^ "DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space, NASA Evidence Suggests". ScienceDaily. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  98. ^ Jump up to: a b Chow, Denise (26 October 2011). "Discovery: Cosmic Dust Contains Organic Matter from Stars". Space.com. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  99. ^ "Astronomers Discover Complex Organic Matter Exists Throughout the Universe". ScienceDaily. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  100. ^ Kwok, Sun; Zhang, Yong (2011). "Mixed aromatic–aliphatic organic nanoparticles as carriers of unidentified infrared emission features". Nature. 479 (7371): 80–83. Bibcode:2011Natur.479...80K. doi:10.1038/nature10542. PMID 22031328. S2CID 4419859.
  101. ^ Than, Ker (August 29, 2012). "Sugar Found In Space". National Geographic. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  102. ^ "Sweet! Astronomers spot sugar molecule near star". AP News. August 29, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  103. ^ Jørgensen, Jes K.; Favre, Cécile; Bisschop, Suzanne E.; Bourke, Tyler L.; et al. (2012). "Detection of the Simplest Sugar, Glycolaldehyde, in a Solar-Type Protostar with Alma". The Astrophysical Journal. 757 (1): L4. arXiv:1208.5498. Bibcode:2012ApJ...757L...4J. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/757/1/L4. S2CID 14205612.
  104. ^ Jump up to: a b "NASA Cooks Up Icy Organics to Mimic Life's Origins". Space.com. September 20, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  105. ^ Jump up to: a b Gudipati, Murthy S.; Yang, Rui (2012). "In-Situ Probing of Radiation-Induced Processing of Organics in Astrophysical Ice Analogs – Novel Laser Desorption Laser Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectroscopic Studies". The Astrophysical Journal. 756 (1): L24. Bibcode:2012ApJ...756L..24G. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/756/1/L24.
  106. ^ Jump up to: a b Loomis, Ryan A.; Zaleski, Daniel P.; Steber, Amanda L.; Neill, Justin L.; et al. (2013). "The Detection of Interstellar Ethanimine (Ch3Chnh) from Observations Taken During the Gbt Primos Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 765 (1): L9. arXiv:1302.1121. Bibcode:2013ApJ...765L...9L. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/765/1/L9. S2CID 118522676.
  107. ^ Finley, Dave (February 28, 2013) Discoveries Suggest Icy Cosmic Start for Amino Acids and DNA Ingredients. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory
  108. ^ Kaiser, R. I.; Stockton, A. M.; Kim, Y. S.; Jensen, E. C.; et al. (March 5, 2013). "On the Formation of Dipeptides in Interstellar Model Ices". The Astrophysical Journal. 765 (2): 111. Bibcode:2013ApJ...765..111K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/765/2/111. Lay summary – Phys.org.
  109. ^ Hoover, Rachel (February 21, 2014). "Need to Track Organic Nano-Particles Across the Universe? NASA's Got an App for That". NASA. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  110. ^ Marlaire, Ruth (3 March 2015). "NASA Ames Reproduces the Building Blocks of Life in Laboratory". NASA. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  111. ^ "Prebiotic chemicals – amino acid and phosphorus – in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko".
  112. ^ Furukawa, Yoshihiro; Chikaraishi, Yoshito; Ohkouchi, Naohiko; Ogawa, Nanako O.; Glavin, Daniel P.; Dworkin, Jason P.; Abe, Chiaki; Nakamura, Tomoki (2019-11-13). "Extraterrestrial ribose and other sugars in primitive meteorites". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (49): 24440–45. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11624440F. doi:10.1073/pnas.1907169116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6900709. PMID 31740594.
  113. ^ Kaçar, Betül (2020-11-20). "If we're alone in the Universe, should we do anything about it?". Aeon. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  114. ^ Loeb, Abraham (October 2014). "The Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe". International Journal of Astrobiology. 13 (4): 337–39. arXiv:1312.0613. Bibcode:2014IJAsB..13..337L. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.680.4009. doi:10.1017/S1473550414000196. S2CID 2777386.
  115. ^ Loeb, Abraham (2 December 2013). "The Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe". International Journal of Astrobiology. 13 (4): 337–39. arXiv:1312.0613v3. Bibcode:2014IJAsB..13..337L. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.748.4820. doi:10.1017/S1473550414000196. S2CID 2777386.
  116. ^ Dreifus, Claudia (2 December 2014). "Much-Discussed Views That Go Way Back – Avi Loeb Ponders the Early Universe, Nature and Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  117. ^ Rampelotto, P.H. (2010). "Panspermia: A Promising Field Of Research" (PDF). Astrobiology Science Conference. Harvard. 1538: 5224. Bibcode:2010LPICo1538.5224R. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  118. ^ Graham, Robert W (February 1990). "Extraterrestrial Life in the Universe" (PDF). Technical Memorandum. Lewis Research Center, OH. 102363. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  119. ^ Altermann, Wladyslaw (2008). "From Fossils to Astrobiology – A Roadmap to Fata Morgana?". In Seckbach, Joseph; Walsh, Maud (eds.). From Fossils to Astrobiology: Records of Life on Earth and the Search for Extraterrestrial Biosignatures. 12. p. xvii. ISBN 978-1-4020-8836-0.
  120. ^ Czechowski, Leszek (2018). "Enceladus as a place of origin of life in the Solar System". Geological Quarterly. 61. doi:10.7306/gq.1401.
  121. ^ Webb, Stephen (2002), If the universe is teeming with aliens, where is everybody? Fifty solutions to the Fermi paradox and the problem of extraterrestrial life, Copernicus, Springer, OCLC 50164852.
  122. ^ Steffen, Jason H.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Borucki, William J; Buchhave, Lars A.; et al. (9 November 2010). "Five Kepler target stars that show multiple transiting exoplanet candidates". Astrophysical Journal. 725 (1): 1226–41. arXiv:1006.2763. Bibcode:2010ApJ...725.1226S. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/725/1/1226. S2CID 14775394.
  123. ^ Jump up to: a b Overbye, Dennis (November 4, 2013). "Far-Off Planets Like the Earth Dot the Galaxy". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  124. ^ Jump up to: a b Petigura, Eric A.; Howard, Andrew W.; Marcy, Geoffrey W (October 31, 2013). "Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110 (48): 19273–78. arXiv:1311.6806. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11019273P. doi:10.1073/pnas.1319909110. PMC 3845182. PMID 24191033.
  125. ^ Khan, Amina (November 4, 2013). "Milky Way may host billions of Earth-size planets". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  126. ^ Crawford, I.A. (Sep 1995). "Some Thoughts on the Implications of Faster-Than-Light Interstellar Space Travel". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 36 (3): 205. Bibcode:1995QJRAS..36..205C.
  127. ^ Jump up to: a b Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2008). "Panspermia". Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues (entry). pp. 454–55. ISBN 9780313341014.
  128. ^ Wickramasinghe, C; Wainwright, M; Narlikar, J (May 24, 2003). "SARS – a clue to its origins?". Lancet. 361 (9371): 1832. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13440-X. PMID 12781581. S2CID 43843273.
  129. ^ Willerslev, E; Hansen, AJ; Rønn, R; Nielsen, OJ (Aug 2, 2003). "Panspermia – true or false?". Lancet. 362 (9381): 406, author reply 407–08. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14039-1. PMID 12907025. S2CID 43529100.
  130. ^ Bhargava, PM (Aug 2, 2003). "Panspermia – true or false?". Lancet. 362 (9381): 407, author reply 407–08. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14041-X. PMC 7134934. PMID 12907028.
  131. ^ Ponce de Leon, S; Lazcano, A (Aug 2, 2003). "Panspermia – true or false?". Lancet. 362 (9381): 406–07, author reply 407–08. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(03)14040-8. PMC 7135165. PMID 12907026.
  132. ^ Qu, Jiangwen (2016). "Is sunspot activity a factor in influenza pandemics?". Reviews in Medical Virology. 26 (5): 309–13. doi:10.1002/rmv.1887. PMID 27136236. S2CID 46864085.
  133. ^ "New Study Adds to Finding of Ancient Life Signs in Mars Meteorite". NASA. 2009-11-30. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  134. ^ Thomas-Keprta, K.; Clemett, S; McKay, D; Gibson, E & Wentworth, S (2009). "Origin of Magnetite Nanocrystals in Martian Meteorite ALH84001". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (Submitted manuscript). 73 (21): 6631–77. Bibcode:2009GeCoA..73.6631T. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.05.064.
  135. ^ "Alien visitors". New Scientist Space. 11 May 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  136. ^ D’Argenio, Bruno; Geraci, Giuseppe & del Gaudio, Rosanna (March 2001). "Microbes in rocks and meteorites: a new form of life unaffected by time, temperature, pressure". Rendiconti Lincei. 12 (1): 51–68. doi:10.1007/BF02904521. S2CID 127804991.
  137. ^ Geraci, Giuseppe; del Gaudio, Rosanna; D’Argenio, Bruno (2001). "Microbes in rocks and meteorites: a new form of life unaffected by time, temperature, pressure" (PDF). Rend. Fis. Acc. Linceis. 9: 51–68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26.
  138. ^ "The detection of living cells in stratospheric samples". Archived from the original on 2005-01-06.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  139. ^ "Scientists Say They Have Found Extraterrestrial Life in the Stratosphere But Peers Are Skeptical". Scientific American. 2001-07-31. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  140. ^ Narlikar, JV; Lloyd, D; Wickramasinghe, NC; Turner; Al-Mufti; Wallis; Wainwright; Rajaratnam; Shivaji; Reddy; Ramadurai; Hoyle (2003). "Balloon experiment to detect micro-organisms in the outer space". Astrophys Space Sci. 285 (2): 555–62. Bibcode:2003Ap&SS.285..555N. doi:10.1023/A:1025442021619. S2CID 189837841.
  141. ^ Wainwright, M; Wickramasinghe, N.C; Narlikar, J.V; Rajaratnam, P. "Microorganisms cultured from stratospheric air samples obtained at 41 km". Archived from the original on 2 June 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  142. ^ Wainwright, M (2003). "A microbiologist looks at panspermia". Astrophys Space Sci. 285 (2): 563–70. Bibcode:2003Ap&SS.285..563W. doi:10.1023/A:1025494005689. S2CID 189837722.
  143. ^ Vaidya, Pushkar Ganesh (July 2009). "Critique on Vindication of Panspermia" (PDF). Apeiron. 16 (3). Retrieved 28 November 2009.
  144. ^ Mumbai scientist challenges theory that bacteria came from space, India: AOL, archived from the original on 2018-11-19.
  145. ^ "Balloon Flights Conducted From Hyderabad From 2001 Onwards".
  146. ^ Shivaji S, Chaturvedi P, Begum Z, Pindi PK, Manorama R, Padmanaban DA, Shouche YS, Pawar S, Vaishampayan P, Dutt CB, Datta GN, Manchanda RK, Rao UR, Bhargava PM, Narlikar JV (2009). "Janibacter hoylei sp. nov., Bacillus isronensis sp. nov. and Bacillus aryabhattai sp. nov., isolated from cryotubes used for collecting air from upper atmosphere". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 59 (Pt 12): 2977–86. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.002527-0. PMID 19643890.
  147. ^ Discovery of New Microorganisms in the Stratosphere. Physorg (March 18, 2009)
  148. ^
  149. ^ Timothy Oleson (May 5, 2013). "Lofted by hurricanes, bacteria live the high life". NASA. Earth Magazine. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  150. ^ Helen Shen (28 January 2013). "High-flying bacteria spark interest in possible climate effects". Nature News. doi:10.1038/nature.2013.12310. S2CID 131658321.
  151. ^ Griffin, Dale Warren (14 August 2013). "The Quest for Extraterrestrial Life: What About the Viruses?". Astrobiology. 13 (8): 774–83. Bibcode:2013AsBio..13..774G. doi:10.1089/ast.2012.0959. PMID 23944293.
  152. ^ Anders, E.; Dufresne, E. R.; Hayatsu, R.; Cavaille, A.; Dufresne, A.; Fitch, F. W. (1964). "Contaminated Meteorite". Science. 146 (3648): 1157–61. Bibcode:1964Sci...146.1157A. doi:10.1126/science.146.3648.1157. PMID 17832241. S2CID 38428960.
  153. ^ Jump up to: a b Chamberlin, Sean (1999). "Black Smokers and Giant Worms". Fullerton College. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  154. ^ Choi, Charles Q. (17 March 2013). "Microbes Thrive in Deepest Spot on Earth". LiveScience. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  155. ^ Oskin, Becky (14 March 2013). "Intraterrestrials: Life Thrives in Ocean Floor". LiveScience. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  156. ^ Glud, Ronnie; Wenzhöfer, Frank; Middelboe, Mathias; Oguri, Kazumasa; et al. (17 March 2013). "High rates of microbial carbon turnover in sediments in the deepest oceanic trench on Earth". Nature Geoscience. 6 (4): 284–88. Bibcode:2013NatGe...6..284G. doi:10.1038/ngeo1773.
  157. ^ Carey, Bjorn (7 February 2005). "Wild Things: The Most Extreme Creatures". Live Science. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  158. ^ Cavicchioli, R. (Fall 2002). "Extremophiles and the search for extraterrestrial life". Astrobiology. 2 (3): 281–92. Bibcode:2002AsBio...2..281C. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.472.3179. doi:10.1089/153110702762027862. PMID 12530238.
  159. ^ Jump up to: a b Rettberg, Petra; Moeller, Ralf; Rabbow, Elke; Douki, Thierry; Cadet, Jean; Panitz, Corinna; Horneck, Gerda; Lammer, Helmut (2008). "The BIOPAN experiment MARSTOX II of the FOTON M-3 mission". 37Th Cospar Scientific Assembly. 37: 2602. Bibcode:2008cosp...37.2602R.
  160. ^ Jump up to: a b Surviving the Final Frontier. astrobio.net (25 November 2002).
  161. ^ Christner, Brent C. (2002). "Detection, recovery, isolation, and characterization of bacteria in glacial ice and Lake Vostok accretion ice". Ohio State University. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  162. ^ Nanjundiah, V. (2000). "The smallest form of life yet?" (PDF). Journal of Biosciences. 25 (1): 9–10. doi:10.1007/BF02985175. PMID 10824192. S2CID 29030837. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  163. ^ Milojevic, Tetyana; Kölbl, Denise; Ferrière, Ludovic; Albu, Mihaela; Kish, Adrienne; Flemming, Roberta L.; Koeberl, Christian; Blazevic, Amir; Zebec, Ziga; Rittmann, Simon K.-M. R.; Schleper, Christa (2019-12-02). "Exploring the microbial biotransformation of extraterrestrial material on nanometer scale". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 18028. Bibcode:2019NatSR...918028M. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-54482-7. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6889503. PMID 31792265.
  164. ^ "Meteorite-loving microorganism: Archaeon can crunch meteorite and feed on it". ScienceDaily. 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  165. ^ Jump up to: a b c Rabbow, Elke Rabbow; Gerda Horneck; Petra Rettberg; Jobst-Ulrich Schott; et al. (9 July 2009). "EXPOSE, an Astrobiological Exposure Facility on the International Space Station – from Proposal to Flight" (PDF). Orig Life Evol Biosph. 39 (6): 581–98. Bibcode:2009OLEB...39..581R. doi:10.1007/s11084-009-9173-6. PMID 19629743. S2CID 19749414. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  166. ^ Bacterium revived from 25 million year sleep Digital Center for Microbial Ecology
  167. ^ Morono, Yuki; Ito, Motoo; Hoshino, Tatsuhiko; Terada, Takeshi; Hori, Tomoyuki; Ikehara, Minoru; D’Hondt, Steven; Inagaki, Fumio (2020-07-28). "Aerobic microbial life persists in oxic marine sediment as old as 101.5 million years". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 3626. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.3626M. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17330-1. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7387439. PMID 32724059.
  168. ^ Tepfer, David Tepfer (December 2008). "The origin of life, panspermia and a proposal to seed the Universe". Plant Science. 175 (6): 756–60. doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2008.08.007.
  169. ^ "Exobiology and Radiation Assembly (ERA)". ESA. NASA. 1992. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  170. ^ Jump up to: a b Zhang (1995). "ERA-experiment "space biochemistry"". Advances in Space Research. 16 (8): 119–29. Bibcode:1995AdSpR..16h.119D. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(95)00280-R. PMID 11542696.
  171. ^ Horneck G; Eschweiler U; Reitz G; Wehner J; et al. (1995). "Biological responses to space: results of the experiment "Exobiological Unit" of ERA on EURECA I". Adv. Space Res. 16 (8): 105–18. Bibcode:1995AdSpR..16..105H. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(95)00279-N. PMID 11542695.
  172. ^ "BIOPAN Pan for exposure to space environment". Kayser Italia. 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  173. ^ De La Torre Noetzel, Rosa (2008). "Experiment lithopanspermia: Test of interplanetary transfer and re-entry process of epi- and endolithic microbial communities in the FOTON-M3 Mission". 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 13–20 July 2008. 37: 660. Bibcode:2008cosp...37..660D.
  174. ^ "Life in Space for Life ion Earth – Biosatelite Foton M3". June 26, 2008. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  175. ^ Jönsson, K. Ingemar Jönsson; Elke Rabbow; Ralph O. Schill; Mats Harms-Ringdahl; et al. (9 September 2008). "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit". Current Biology. 18 (17): R729–31. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.048. PMID 18786368. S2CID 8566993.
  176. ^ de Vera; J.P.P.; et al. (2010). "COSPAR 2010 Conference". Research Gate. Retrieved 17 July 2013. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  177. ^ Paul Clancy (2005). Looking for Life, Searching the Solar System. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521824507. Retrieved 26 March 2014.[page needed]
  178. ^ Tepfer, David Tepfer; Andreja Zalar & Sydney Leach. (May 2012). "Survival of Plant Seeds, Their UV Screens, and nptII DNA for 18 Months Outside the International Space Station" (PDF). Astrobiology. 12 (5): 517–28. Bibcode:2012AsBio..12..517T. doi:10.1089/ast.2011.0744. PMID 22680697.
  179. ^ Scalzi, Giuliano Scalzi; Laura Selbmann; Laura Zucconi; Elke Rabbow; et al. (1 June 2012). "LIFE Experiment: Isolation of Cryptoendolithic Organisms from Antarctic Colonized Sandstone Exposed to Space and Simulated Mars Conditions on the International Space Station". Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres. 42 (2–3): 253–62. Bibcode:2012OLEB...42..253S. doi:10.1007/s11084-012-9282-5. PMID 22688852. S2CID 11744764.
  180. ^ Onofri, Silvano Onofri; Rosa de la Torre; Jean-Pierre de Vera; Sieglinde Ott; et al. (May 2012). "Survival of Rock-Colonizing Organisms After 1.5 Years in Outer Space". Astrobiology. 12 (5): 508–16. Bibcode:2012AsBio..12..508O. doi:10.1089/ast.2011.0736. PMID 22680696.
  181. ^ Neuberger, Katja; Lux-Endrich, Astrid; Panitz, Corinna; Horneck, Gerda (January 2015). "Survival of Spores of Trichoderma longibrachiatum in Space: data from the Space Experiment SPORES on EXPOSE-R". International Journal of Astrobiology. 14 (Special Issue 1): 129–35. Bibcode:2015IJAsB..14..129N. doi:10.1017/S1473550414000408. S2CID 121455217.
  182. ^ Jump up to: a b Schulze-Makuch, Dirk (3 September 2014). "New ISS Experiment Tests Organisms' Survival Skills in Space". Air and Space Magazine. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  183. ^ "Spacewalk Marks End of ESA's Exposed Space Chemistry Experiment". ESA. February 3, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  184. ^ Yokobori, Shin-Ichi; Yang, Yinjie; Sugino, Tomohiro; Kawaguchi, Yuko; Yoshida, Satoshi; Hashimoto, Hirofumi; Narumi, Issay; Kobayashi, Kensei; Yamagishi, Akihiko (2010). "Microbe space exposure experiment at International Space Station (ISS) proposed in "Tanpopo" mission". 38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 18-15 July 2010, in Bremen, Germany. 38. p. 10. Bibcode:2010cosp...38.3275Y.
  185. ^ Yano, H. et al. (2014) "Tanpopo Experiment for Wastrobiology Exposure and Micrometeoroid Capture Onboard the ISS–JEM Exposed Facility." 45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
  186. ^ Tanpopo mission to search space for origins of life. The Japan News, April 16, 2015.
  187. ^ Yuko, Kawaguchi (13 May 2016). "Investigation of the Interplanetary Transfer of Microbes in the Tanpopo Mission at the Exposed Facility of the International Space Station". Astrobiology. 16 (5): 363–76. Bibcode:2016AsBio..16..363K. doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1415. PMID 27176813.
  188. ^ Strickland, Ashley (26 August 2020). "Bacteria from Earth can survive in space and could endure the trip to Mars, according to new study". CNN News. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  189. ^ Kawaguchi, Yuko; et al. (26 August 2020). "DNA Damage and Survival Time Course of Deinococcal Cell Pellets During 3 Years of Exposure to Outer Space". Frontiers in Microbiology. 11: 2050. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.02050. PMC 7479814. PMID 32983036.
  190. ^ Normile, Dennis (2020). "Japan's Hayabusa2 capsule lands with carbon-rich asteroid samples". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abg0482.
  191. ^ Agence France-Presse (2020-12-15). "Asteroid samples leaves Japanese scientist 'speechless'". the Guardian. Retrieved 2020-12-15.

Further reading[]

Library resources about
Panspermia
  • Crick, Francis (1981), Life, Its Origin and Nature, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0-7088-2235-7
  • Hoyle, Fred (1983), The Intelligent Universe, London: Michael Joseph, ISBN 978-0-7181-2298-0

External links[]

Retrieved from ""