Space Lichen

[urbpan]

So by now, you will have read the article Lichens survive in space. (Thanks crunchywater and omphalina) The gist of it, is that lichens have been added to the list of living things put into space, and unlike the others, survived. (I know they didn't expose chimps and dogs to outer space, they just let them die in the capsules, but it flows better for me this way.) I think this is cool, but entirely unsurprising. There are lichens in Antarctica, as well as any other cold place on earth you can think of. I'm sure if they kept the lichen in space for longer than 15 days, parts of it would start to die, but the point is clear: this stuff is sturdy.

But I'm bothered by the last sentence in the article: "This discovery has added weight to the argument that life may have come to Earth and spread around the universe attached to asteroids, a theory known as panspermia. "

While I'm happy to add the word "panspermia" to my lexicon, the fact that the theory has a name makes it no less idiotic. I'm a bit of an earth chauvinist, I admit. I'm willing to admit, nay embrace, the idea that life could develop on another planet (or asteroid, comet, or cold wet star). But--and I apologize to those of you that have heard me rant about this before (sorry, Alexis)--what is the appeal of the idea that life on earth came from outside of earth?

In other words, panspermia says that the materials for life are zipping around the universe, landing on class M planets and terraforming them until the highest form of life evolves: cuttlefish humans. So, while the germ of life is extraterrestrial (by this theory), the most important part is still the planet that sustains it all (do you see from whence my passion emanates, yet?)

The theory bugs me because it will allow people with a little bit of knowledge to claim that there is nothing special about the planet, therefore, lets trash it and move to the next one. There ain't no next one folks. All our telescopes say each further rock out is worse than the next. I like to imagine life on other planets, but that's just fun speculation and fantasy. There is life on exactly one place in the universe, as far as we know, and its desperately fragile.

See also: http://www.livejournal.com/users/urbpan/22278.html

Comments

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

Your take on it is very interesting and, while I understand your point, I feel that there is much to be said for unification. Once it was determined that black people were (omg!) actually 'human beings,' the world changed for the better. When it was determined that human beings were actually just animals, the world changed for the better. Imo, ANYthing that can be done to prove that we are not so special after all, will improve things.

The fact that there are other planets out there in no way gives us an excuse to rape and destroy this one. That's a very immature way of looking at it. It's like, "omg, there's a yard across the street, let me just use mine as a toilet - when I'm done making mine as polluted as possible, I can just move on!" A mature individual would love their yard and keep it beautiful, regardless of how many other yards there are.

I'm not in love with the idea of aliens, other habitable planets, what have you. I am in love with the organized nature of the universe.