
The International Space Station is growing mould, inside and outside - appleiigs
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/international-space-station-mould-1.5193970
======
orbital-decay
There's also another similar long-term experiment being performed on the
International Space Station [0]. It's not finished yet but apparently
preliminary results [1] suggest that microorganisms can possibly be lifted
into the upper atmosphere from the oceans somehow. They found different
planktonic species from all over the world on the outer surface of the space
station, which is hard to explain by spacecraft contamination on the ground or
during the flight alone.

[0] [http://tsniimash.ru/science/scientific-experiments-
onboard-t...](http://tsniimash.ru/science/scientific-experiments-onboard-the-
is-rs/cnts/experiments/test/) (in Russian, but Google Translate seems to work
okay on this one)

[1]
[https://www.energia.ru/ktt/archive/2015/01-2015/01-03.pdf](https://www.energia.ru/ktt/archive/2015/01-2015/01-03.pdf)

~~~
adtac
Interesting. I wonder if some extreme events could have kicked up enough
microorganisms that some even went to the moon! That would be a false positive
for finding life on the moon.

~~~
pvaldes
> I wonder if some extreme events could have kicked up enough microorganisms
> that some even went to the moon!

We could fit 56 planet mars in row in the distance between the moon and the
earth, so... not. Really unlikely

~~~
credit_guy
Fun little fact: you can fit pretty much exactly all the planets in the Solar
system between the Earth and the Moon. More precisely, the eccentricity of the
Moon’s orbit is small, about 5.5%. The sum of the diameters of all the planets
is a number in the interval between the lowest and highest distance between
Moon and Earth, i.e. between 363k km and 405k km.

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ChuckMcM
Well that is an interesting result. Also bodes well for the pan spermia crowd,
they are the ones that think an asteroid impact can bring life to a planet and
kick off the whole life cycle. Certainly the center of an icy mass probably
stays well within the survival parameters of these forms of mold.

Also interesting to see if we can deduce the DNA changes that lead to this
resistance. It would be an advantage for astronauts to be highly resistant to
x-rays and other DNA damaging events.

Of course I always think of "The Andromeda Strain" when I read things like
this. At least this mold doesn't seem to "eat" radiation for energy.

Random observation: I guess the Canadians spell mold as 'mould' ?

~~~
mongol
Is the Andromeda Strain good? I have heard about it.

~~~
ethbro
I was a huge Crichton fan when younger, and Andromeda Strain and most of his
earlier stuff is head and shoulders above later work.

The movie isn't bad either.

I'd definitely skip reading anything newer than Lost World. Like Tom Clancy,
at some point (and $) you lose the fire to write.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Anecdote time. (hey its saturday were I am ;-))

This comment: " _at some point (and $) you lose the fire to write._ "

I had noticed the same thing with another author. And at the time I was
working with Jerry Pournelle[1] helping him with things he didn't need or want
to do with his BYTE column. I asked Jerry about it. His response was fairly
enlightening so I share it here.

Jerry said that writers were arrogant, and in their arrogance they despise
editors because editors tell them what they wrote doesn't read well, or isn't
necessary for the story, or has the wrong character point of view and demand
that the writer rewrite it. When a writer is young and hungry, they do this
because they have to, if they don't they won't get published. But if they
become successful, they get more sway with the publisher. At some point they
have enough sway to _override_ what the editor says and have them publish it
the way they wrote it. And that is when you find out if they are a good
writer, or if they are only a good story teller and without an editor their
writing is sub par.

That made so much sense to me at the time and it was also the basis for
Jerry's oft used phrase which was the secret of good writing was re-writing.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle)

~~~
ethbro
Essentially the same argument about a band's lead singer going onto a solo
career.

Were they the main component of success? Or simply the most visible
participant?

My rationale has always been that writing (or art in general) is hard. And
that people are lazy. And that few people able to afford not working hard are
still willing to pursue it with the same dedication.

But I really like your idea too. "The invisible team" makes a lot of sense.

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wwwtyro
"The research touches on this, and it warns astronauts to follow recommended
planetary protection protocols designed to prevent visiting spacecraft from
contaminating other planets and moons in our solar system with microorganisms
from Earth. The study suggests that, because of the risk of contamination,
these fungal spores may need to be considered a more serious threat."

This makes me wonder if we've accidentally already started terraforming Mars.

~~~
CydeWeys
Seriously, is this a threat or is it the unexpected boon of getting a jump-
start on terraforming? If you could press a button and "contaminate" Mars with
life that would start spreading and generating an oxygen atmosphere, wouldn't
you?

~~~
not2b
It would mean you have a much harder time finding out if Mars once had life,
if instead you're detecting mold that hitched a ride with your spacecraft.

~~~
thirstywhimbrel
I think you're right, this is the best argument against.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy[0] deals with this a great deal, the early
scientists pretty quickly devolve into two camps, terraformers and
preservationists. There's a lot of other things going on as well, but this is
one subplot.

At one point in the book, a terraformer made the argument if we discovered
life on Mars we'd never know how or when it got there anyway. The monkeys in
South America are an interesting parallel - total mystery. Best hunch is that
some survivable population "rafted" across the Atlantic at some point - under
conditions somehow rare enough to have happened exactly once in 40 million
years.

KSR doesn't explicitly take a side, but seems to think that terraforming will
be inevitable, so we might as well get on with it.

On the other hand, Mars may not be terraformable.[1] The challenges there are
so extensive as to possibly be insurmountable. Consider that we are so
accustomed to certain environmental conditions that changes so subtle as
working extended hours in a popcorn factory can give us cancer.[2] Mars just
has toxic soil, a low enough gravity as to probably prevent a sustainable
atmosphere, and is constantly bombarded with radiation.

But who knows, futurism is hard because humanity is pretty ingenious.

Isaac Arthur has an extended video on terraforming that's worth watching if
you want to dive deeply into this topic.[3]

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars#Challenge...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars#Challenges_and_limitations)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronchiolitis_obliterans#Diace...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronchiolitis_obliterans#Diacetyl)

[3]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikoNQNj9ZnU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikoNQNj9ZnU)

~~~
benj111
"KSR doesn't explicitly take a side"

I don't want to give any spoilers, but the weirdest part of Blue Mars (?)
seems to take a side on the existence of life on Mars. Or am I misremembering.

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nickserv
And I thought I had it bad in my kitchen.

In any case I'm really wondering how it grows outside, which the article
didn't really explain. It's one thing for the spores to survive in vacuum,
another altogether for it to actually grow in vacuum. Or did I misunderstand
something?

~~~
mirimir
Maybe just sloppy title writing.

Because TFA says _nothing_ about it growing outside.

~~~
igravious
“New research being presented at the Astrobiology Science Conference shows the
International Space Station has an irritating mould problem — not only on the
inside, _but the outside, too._ ”

"We now know that [fungal spores] resist radiation much more than we thought
they would, to the point where we need to take them into consideration when we
are cleaning spacecraft, inside _and outside,_ " Cortesao said in a statement.

emphasis mine

~~~
mirimir
I'm not quibbling about "outside". But nothing like "grow*" appears there.
Spores aren't actually growing. Just waiting for suitable growth conditions.

~~~
igravious
Ah, apologies for not picking that up.

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snarfy
I recall reading mold has a redundant set of DNA. For a mutation to happen,
both sets need to have the same damage/radiation/etc happen at the same time.
It's believed to be the reason why molds evolve so slowly and why they are so
resilient to radiation damage.

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zenpaul
Being a homeowner, hearing an "irritating mould problem" didn't make me think
"resilient fungi could lead to new kinds of materials for use in space". It
made me think that there are some serious health risks for those astronauts if
that mould gets out of control.

Funny nobody mentions that.

~~~
CriticalCathed
Mold problems are significantly overblown in homes. Even a moderate amount of
mold isn't really a significant health risk. It _can_ be a serious problem for
people who are allergic, or have compromised immune systems. Even the ever
feared "black mold" isn't particularly dangerous.

When a home has a mold problem, the solution often isn't even to clean up the
mold. The solution is to figure out why the mold is growing, which is usually
humidity problems or leaky pipes or poor ventilation, and deal with that. Once
you've got the moisture problem handled the mold issue pretty much goes away.

(don't astronauts have suppressed immune systems or something btw?)

~~~
sorenn111
I think from the Twin Study they saw changes in the immune system, but not
severely compromised. Additionally, NASA astronauts are a highly selective
population in pretty strong physical conditions who are lightyears away from
those you hear about who have truly suppressed immune systems.

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goddtriffin
_" But the spores may not be all bad though. Cortesao's research is looking
for ways the space-growing fungi may help us long-term, investigating their
capacity to grow in less than ideal conditions. The study's aim is to harness
the hardy microbes as biological factories to create materials astronauts may
use on longer missions, such as antibiotics and vitamins."_

I wouldn't mind tasting some space-alcohol.

~~~
GaryNumanVevo
You're in luck! There's a company that makes beer with yeast that's been in
space [0].

[0] [https://vostokspacebeer.com/](https://vostokspacebeer.com/)

~~~
Stratoscope
I don't see anything on their site that indicates the use of yeast that has
been in space. If that were the case they would surely mention it.

It looks like it's just beer in a special bottle that they say will work in
zero-G.

~~~
MPSimmons
Ground Control is the real stuff: [https://www.craftbeer.com/news/beer-
release/ninkasi-ground-c...](https://www.craftbeer.com/news/beer-
release/ninkasi-ground-control-space-traveled-yeast)

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jchrisa
I wonder what the minimum viable terrarium is? The idea that we could keep
something sterile will seem barbaric to our descendants.

------
joubert
There’s a fantastic show on Netflix called “One Strange Rock” that talks about
how earth sustains life, interconnected systems, and astronauts’ views on
being earthlings.

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chiefgeek
Sounds like potential proof of Terrence McKenna's argument in "Food of the
Gods" that mushroom spores were interstellar!

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jbverschoor
Life in space!

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sova
The risk of contaminating other planets with life? lol

~~~
sova
all you who voted me down, none of you read the article i'm guessing

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throwawayfooba
Is this the first case of extraterrestrial life?

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ncmncm
No, that was Laika.

~~~
mkl
There were probably microorganisms and fungi on Sputnik, and before that,
things that didn't orbit, like a V2 rocket in 1944:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MW_18014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MW_18014)

~~~
ncmncm
Laika was the first organism that we knew was alive in space. For a time.

At the time, and for decades after, everyone assumed anything on the outside
would dessicate and die immediately.

