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Space biologists have been studying microbes that live in the hottest, coldest, driest and most unpleasant places on Earth. They found one that is remarkable for withstanding a wide range of conditions. Scientists are calling it the ultimate survivor. Labelled Methanosarcina barkeri, it is a type of microbe called a methanogen because it produces methane.
US scientists are excited about the new bug because it is not as picky as other methanogens about where it lives. It can survive long dry spells and huge temperature swings of 100 C, just as are found on Mars.
One of M. barkeri’s advantages is that it eats a wide variety of things, including wood alcohol and vinegar. But if they are not available it can feed on a mix of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, both of which are found on Mars.
It can imitate a submarine to move through water. But if water is scarce, as on Mars today, it can happily sit through a long dry spell. .
Previously, researchers have found amino acids in space rocks that fell to Earth as meteorites, and tentative evidence for the compounds has been detected in interstellar space. Now, an amino acid called glycine has been definitively traced to an icy comet for the first time.
Vinegar has been made and used for thousands of years. Traces of it have been found in Egyptian urns dating from around 3000 BC. According to Shennong's Herb Classic, vinegar was invented in China during the Xia Dynasty, around 2000 BC. In the Bible, it is mentioned as something not very pleasant (Ps. 69:21, Prov. 25:20), but Boaz allows Ruth to "dip her piece of bread in the vinegar" (Ruth 2:14). Jesus was offered vinegar or sour wine while on the cross (Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36). In Islamic traditions, vinegar is one of the four favored condiments of the Prophet Muhammad, who called it a "Blessed seasoning".
Originally posted by krs678
what if the "light " aliens like the ones seen on the 1996 shuttle mission are not intelligent but a kind of space jellyfish similar to life in the oceans they may use light to communicate with each other?