Today we travel to space with Marta Filipa Simões to talk about what fungi has been found in space, how they can survive, what tests we are doing on earth to discover their space exploration potential, and the possibility of fungal life on other planets.
Extra information and details:
For detailed information on astromycology research and experiments done, or even fungal species tested in both real outer space conditions and simulated conditions, you can check out the publication: https://www.mycosphere.org/pdf/MYCOSPHERE_14_1_13.pdf.
As mentioned, me and my research team, we've done several experiments in hypergravity (10 and 15G). This was done through a project entitled "HyperSpacEx – Medical and Biotechnological potential of Fungi in Hypergravity for Space Exploration", where we had access to a large diameter centrifuge (LCD) to simulate the selected hypergravity values. This LDC is available at the facilities of the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC), Noordwijk, the Netherlands, which we accessed through the HyperGES programme (https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/access2space4all/HyperGES/HyperGES_Index.html). HyperGES is a cooperation programme between the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), developed under the Access to Space for All Initiative.
Hydrothermal vents were discovered a few decades ago and are a relatively recent discovery in the field of oceanography. Initially, these extreme environments were thought to be sterile and devoid of life. However, subsequent research revealed a high diversity of microbial life thriving there. These microorganisms are highly adapted the harsh conditions. This discovery was highly significant for astrobiology and expanded our understanding of life’s potential habitats. Furthermore, hydrothermal vents are considered terrestrial analogues for Mars. This is due to the detection of ancient hydrothermal vents on Mars, which suggests that similar conditions might have once supported life on the Red Planet.
Panspermia is the theory or hypothesis that defends that life exists throughout the Universe and can be carried out into different locations, like our own planet, through space dust, meteorites, asteroids, comets, and planetoids. This is one of the theories that attempts to explain the origin of life on Earth.
Where to find more information on our work: https://twitter.com/Simoes_MF, https://www.linkedin.com/in/martafilipasimoes/, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marta-Simoes-3, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sm5g6nsAAAAJ&hl=pt-PT&authuser=1&oi=a
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