British garbage worms survive in space without human help
A worm family that originated in a rubbish dump in Bristol has successfully returned from a space mission, proving for the first time that worms can survive untended in space. Studying the effect of space travel on worms has big implications for understanding how humans can survive in space – if and when we have to flee our …
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Ha!
That last line did make me laugh out loud Anna, thanks :).
I, for one, welcome our new nematode overlords
As title.
The worms are turning
Wot, the worms wrote a paper for the Royal Society? Looks as if they're well on the way to being masters of the universe.
So, basically ...
... if you feed, water and shelter primitive hermaphrodites, they will reproduce without further help? Gee, whodathunkit ... Outstanding bit of research, that.
Missing the point
The test is to look at long term biological effects of:
1. zero gravity
2. cosmic radiation (unprotected by earths atmosphere which filters this stuff)
Seems like cells stick around in a human a lot longer than a worm though so doubt the radiation could cause cancers etc like it might long term in an astronaut.
Fire off our landfill rubbish to MArs with these worms and let them create a biosphere. Something like that. Job done.
The worms go in and the worms come out...
That'll explain Arrakis, then...
Mars ...
Probably just a way-stop on the way to Tau Ceti 5.
Disappointed
So not actually in space, just on board a space station. I was expecting some astonishing story of worms crawling about the outside of the space station :-(
Reg. please try not to overhype your stories in the title.
It's disgracefull - it's cruelty to worms! After all it's not like we are short of bottom feeders we can send instead like bankers, politicians and patent lawyers.
I've heard this story before
We colonize another planet with worms, they grow to huge size, start swallowing up spice harvesting tractors and stupid people walking around in the desert. The locals start worshipping the worms as a god.
Where is the Frank Herbert icon at??
Worms... in spaaaaaace!!!
They could be trained to repair satelites, or a certain Mars probe (Grunt).
They could also help to clear away the amount of junk thats floating around upthere.
No one has mentioned this so: May I be the first to welcome our new space fairing wriggling overlords.
Space Worms?
There's an awful lot of moisture in here.
I hadn't even noticed that
David William Donald Cameron, George Gideon Oliver Osborne, William Jefferson Hague, et al had been away ! Guess I'll have to change my reading glasses....
Henri
Without Human Help?
Did the little buggers squirm onto the shuttle and find a nice cozy corner full of food to live in all by themselves?
Mine is the one with the castings in the pocket.
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