This microscopic image shows dozens of
individual bacterial cells of the recently discovered species
Tersicoccus phoenicis. This species has been found in only two places:
clean rooms in Florida and South America where spacecraft are assembled
for launch. Spacecraft clean rooms are one of the most thoroughly
checked environments on Earth for what microbes are present. The
monitoring provides an indication of what species might get into space
aboard a spacecraft.
The image includes a scale bar showing that each of the bacterial cells
is about one micrometer, or micron, across (about 0.00004 inch).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
8 comments:
I enjoyed this website because I was able to learn about the new microbes that are being found. I also loved finding out why they sampled all of the microbes found. Once I finished the paragraphs I started to wonder what scientists would do if we found an alien and it matched one of the microbes found in these clean rooms. What if it didn't? Would they try to take new microbes off of that alien?
I wanted to add on to my last comment and say that I was also curious about what the probability was that an alien would be found today. I also started to think about what these aliens would have to say about the microbes that we have already collected. Would they bring new microbes, or be amazed at the amount that we have found in comparison to their own race.
It is amazing how a microbe can survive on very little to eat! Adapting is important, and these microbes have just proved it! This small amount of microbes can now withstand many stresses! It is interesting how these creatures have not only been classified as a new species, but also as a new genus! This article also shows changes over time because most of the microbes like living in soil (nutrient rich), but some of the microbes can live in clean rooms. At first, all of the microbes were probably never able to live in clean rooms, but after changes over time, some became able to live in clean rooms and still survive. As I read this article, I discovered something. These microbes are called Tersicoccuc phoenicis. In this article in one of these paragraphs, it says that this case is also for another species of bacterium called Paenibacllus phoenicis, which only lives in two places of the world. These places are a spacecraft clean room in Florida and a bore hole more than 1.3 miles deep at the Colorado molydendum mine. The Tersicoccuc phoenicis is also only found in two places, which are spacecraft clean rooms in Florida and South America. I found that Paenibacllus phoenicis and Tersicoccuc phoenicis are both found in spacecraft clean rooms in Florida. Overall, I would rate this a 10 out of 10 because of the rich details and the way it states the information.
I loved this article because of the rich detail and it's pretty exciting that a never before seen bacteria has been discovered. As Shirell said, these might be identical to any extraterrestrial life, if any is ever found. But out of all places, this new life form is found in 2 different spacecraft clean rooms in completely different places. I think that the clean air has something to do with the bacteria being reproduced or created. Also to answer Shirell's question about what the probability was that alien life would be found today, I once read an article somewhere that said that the probability of finding extraterrestrial life on a given day was 1 in 1 million. I think it was in some kind of newspaper article. Anyway, this is my analysis of the article.
I just wanted to add on to my last post. If the bacteria were to be identical to any found extraterrestrial life, if any is ever found, that would mean that we would already have found alien life without knowing it. Right now I'm thinking about the look a scientist's face if he discovers that there was alien life on earth, and that we had just overlooked it.
I thought this article was very interesting. It was cool that these microbes can live in these extremely clean conditions. It was also an interesting concept that the microbes that we learned about in this article could potentially be outside also. They can survive in such a large variety of settings. The article also said that they were found in a deep mine. However, what if the microbe was actually in space? How would we be able to differentiate between the two microbes? Would the microbes in space look similiar to the ones found on earth? Overall, I found this article interesting, but I still have some questions.
I think that this article is very interesting. It is surprising that these microbes are only found so far in clean-rooms in Florida and South America. Apparently, most microbes cannot survive in a clean-room, where there are close to no nutrients. This microbe, named Tersicoccus phoenicis, is one of these special, new microbes. I find it strange that this microbe is found (so far at least) only in South America and Florida. I wonder how it survives the clean-rooms' harsh state. In conclusion, I think that the discovery of these new microbes is very cool.
These microbes are really cool: the fact that they live in SUCH clean areas, that they survive on such little food to eat, etc. It's really cool to know that even with all the technology and crazy things that we have discovered and created, we are STILL finding out more things about our world... Like this new microbe. My question is, what's next?
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