Intraterrestrial Life a.k.a. Earth Bacteria Found on Ryugu Samples

There it is, an asteroid named Ryugu, floating through the great expanse of space, minding its own business until it gets a visitor from Earth—a spacecraft sent by those clever folks over at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (that’s JAXA, for you acronym lovers). Hayabusa2, our adventurous little probe, took off back in December 2014. It embarked on a journey to meet up with Ryugu in June 2018. This celestial meeting was a sort of first date—albeit one where you hover above your date for a year, stare at them intently, and then sneak a souvenir from their surface. But hey, scientists have their methods.

So, what happens when an asteroid sample gets delivered back to our good ol’ blue planet? Well, as you’d expect, our very hospitable Earth’s life forms decided to throw a housewarming party! Out of the void, Earth bacteria wore their best party hats and mulled over the glistening rock samples like they were the latest must-have gadget—talk about uninvited guests! According to Professor Matthew Genge from Imperial College London (a guy who knows his space rocks), these terrestrial microorganisms somehow infiltrated the Ryugu samples, strutting their stuff on the once-barren surface.

“We found micro-organisms in a sample returned from an asteroid,” Genge shared, a mix of wonder and, perhaps, a touch of bewilderment in his voice. “The change in the number of micro-organisms confirmed these were living microbes,”—classic life-on-Earth stuff. Unfortunately, our little microbial maestros didn’t book a long-term stay. They shone brightly for a while before bidding adieu to the surface they so rapidly colonized, taking the hint that not all parties last forever.

Now, you might wonder: what kind of microorganisms crashed this cosmic shindig? Well, without couch DNA profiling DNA tests (science’s version of reality shark programs), it’s anyone’s guess. But Genge suspects they might be a gang of Bacillus—those filamentous friends you find chilling in the soil like they’re at the spa. Yep, good ol’ Bacillus, possibly the least intimidating name for unruly invaders you’d ever fancier about.

In attempts to wave goodbye to unidentified microbial stowaways, scientists applied the power of nano-X-ray computed tomography—not as futuristic as a lightsaber, but none too shabby in the analysis department. Initially, microbes played “hard to get” and evaded detection on scanned surfaces (planetary peekaboo, anyone?). But once stone kissed atmosphere, well, our micro friends came partying in numbers. From 11 downward-droopy party ensembles to a robust 147 of them—they knew how to make an entrance (and multiply).

What do we take away from this microscopic escapade? Set aside rumors of alien life (spoiler: we didn’t find it); it’s our vacationing bacteria that might catch your viral crime novel imagination instead. The tale of how mighty tiny life-forms adapt, settle, and thrive even on space-flung souvenirs reminds us just how determined life is. Whether we’re populating planets or discomforting Martians with rashes on rockets, this microbial hospitality carries implications far beyond Earth’s bound basin. What parties might bacteria throw on distant Mars, or even among Io’s sulfuric skies, when those pesky spacecraft tow us along?

Pondering heavy things, dear reader? Well, dust off your imagination, and as we prep for more stellar navigations, remember life is tenacious, social, and prone to gate-crashing all planetary surfaces—just like your one and only, ridiculously captivating Earth-based crew!

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