Quote:
Originally Posted by kennyc
Which is exactly the issue. Unless we can find a way to expand into space/other planets we my die in our own filth just like a virus that consumes everything available to it before dying itself.
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You are wrong - we are more intelligent than a virus and microbes (=microorganisms) - we fight them every day and wins most of the time. We just need to focus more on recycling our waste.
Mankind are getting more and more conscious about that we need to live in harmony with the rest of nature. Actually microbes (and vira) has terraformed the earth and made it possible for higher organism to evovle here. We are here on the mercy of microbes! We should thank many of the microbes!
Biota (life) rules this earth - first and foremost microbes - and to some extend humans.
And yes, we should try to terraform and colonize other habitable planets, if they are unhabited in the first place. We should just "dump" some hardy microbes onto the planet and wait for some millions years. These microbes will multiply exponentielly - and transform the whole planet crust to be thorougly criss-crossed with live - like earth.
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Need sources? - most of them are in english:
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biota_%...r.2Freferencer
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Examples:
BBC News, 28 September, 2001: The microbes that 'rule the world':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1569264.stm
Quote: "...The Earth's climate may be dependent upon microbes that eat rock beneath the sea floor, according to new research....The number of the worm-like tracks in the rocks diminishes with depth; at 300 metres (985 feet)
below the sea floor, they become much rarer..."
BioMed Central (2010, April 7). First animals to live without oxygen discovered. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 18, 2010:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0407094450.htm
Quote: "...Deep under the Mediterranean Sea, small animals have been discovered that live their entire lives without oxygen and surrounded by 'poisonous' sulphides...the open access journal BMC Biology report the existence of multicellular organisms (new members of the group Loricifera), showing that they are alive, metabolically active, and apparently reproducing in spite of a complete absence of oxygen...."The finding by Danovaro et al. offers the tantalizing promise of metazoan life in other anoxic settings, for example in the subsurface ocean beneath hydrothermal vents or subduction zones or in other anoxic basins."..."
Oregon State University (2004, January 1). Bacteria Discoveries Could Resemble Mars, Other Planets. ScienceDaily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0101091149.htm
Quote: "...A team of scientists has discovered bacteria in a hole drilled more than 4,000 feet deep in volcanic rock on the island of Hawaii...Finally, they removed DNA from a crushed sample of the rock and found that it had come from novel types of microorganisms..."
17 December, 2003, BBCNews: Oldest evidence of photosynthesis:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3321819.stm
Quote: "...Scientists claim to have found the oldest evidence of photosynthesis - the most important chemical reaction on Earth - in 3.7-billion-year-old rocks....If their findings are correct, life was very sophisticated, very early on in Earth history," said Buick...But life may be older and more robust than we thought..."
May 23, 2008, nationalgeographic.com: Hot Life-Forms Found a Mile Under Seafloor:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n.../39220343.html
Quote: "...All told, Parkes said, these prokaryotes could amount to 10 to 30 percent of the world's total living matter..."
BBCNews: 27 September, 2000, When slime is not so thick:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/944790.stm
Quote: "...It means that some of the lowliest creatures in the plant and animal kingdoms, such as slime and amoeba, may not be as primitive as once thought..."
The Amoeba dubia has 200 times the DNA that a human has - that makes you wonder...
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Nature 436, 390-394 (21 July 2005), Deep sub-seafloor prokaryotes stimulated at interfaces over geological time:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture03796.html
Quote: "...
The sub-seafloor biosphere is the largest prokaryotic habitat on Earth
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Recently, subsurface prokaryotes have been found to be ubiquitous on Earth (for example, in sediments, rocks, aquifers, mines, basalts and crustal fluids, oil reservoirs and ice sheets3).
..."
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Some life endures space - most sources are in english:
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udenjor...r.2Freferencer
Nov 09, 2005, Space Daily: Lichen Survives In Space:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-05zzzzzzzr.html
Quote: "...suggests that lichens might survive at the surface of Mars..."
8 November 2005, ESA: Lichen survives in space:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUJM638FE_index_0.html
Quote: "...two different species (Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans) were exposed for a total 14.6 days before being returned to Earth...indicate that lichens have the capacity to resist full exposure to the harsh space conditions, especially high levels of UV radiation. Analysis post flight showed a full rate of survival and an unchanged ability for photosynthesis..."
BBC News, 10 July, 2000, Snow microbes found at South Pole
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/827063.stm
Quote: "...able to survive the large doses of ultraviolet radiation, extreme cold and darkness...The microbes have DNA sequences similar to a category of bacteria known as Deinococcus..."
7 January, 2002, BBCNews: Alien life could be like Antarctic bugs:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1765792.stm
Quote: "...Beauveria bassiana..."
The Swedish Research Council (2009, November 12). New Explanation For Nature's Hardiest Life Form. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 15, 2009:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1111121249.htm
Quote: "...In this form the bacteria can survive for hundreds, perhaps millions, of years in a dormant state and, what's more, endure drought, extreme temperatures, radiation, and toxins that would quickly knock out unprotected bacteria...spores can survive temperatures up to 150 degrees centigrade..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade
Quote: "...
More than 1,000 species of tardigrades have been described. Tardigrades occur over the entire world, from the high Himalayas (above 6,000 m), to the deep sea (below 4,000 m) and from the polar regions to the equator.
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Tardigrades are polyextremophiles and are able to survive in extreme environments that would kill almost any other animal. Some can survive temperatures of -273°C (-460 °F), close to absolute zero,[5] temperatures as high as 151 °C (303 °F), 1,000 times more radiation than other animals,[6] and almost a decade without water.[7] In September 2007, tardigrades were taken into low Earth orbit on the FOTON-M3 mission and for 10 days were exposed to the vacuum of space. After they were returned to Earth, it was discovered that many of them survived and laid eggs that hatched normally, making these the only animals known to be able to survive the vacuum of space.[8]
..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brine_shrimp
Quote: "...
Brine shrimp eggs are metabolically inactive and can remain in total stasis for two years while in dry oxygen-free conditions, even at temperatures below freezing. This characteristic is called cryptobiosis meaning "hidden life" (also called diapause). While in cryptobiosis, brine shrimp eggs can survive temperatures of liquid air (−190 °C or −310.0 °F) and a small percentage can survive above boiling temperature (105 °C or 221 °F) for up to two hours.[2]
..."