Without knowing anything about the problem, I wonder if the contamination problem could be addressed by looking inside things from a distance, like we do with the scrolls of Herculanum?

Surely if a rock or salt crystal stays whole, then contamination is, if not downright impossible, at least extremely unlikely?

One thing about panspermia math: why assume current travel conditions between the stars?

Today the Sun is very far from other stars, but early in star formation (within nebula) the stars are

1. much closer together

2. have a higher rate of material ejection (mass exchange)

3. likely have more benign radiation environments unless near a star, due to GCR shielding by nebula gas

4. likely have higher equilibrium temperature in interstellar/interplanetary space

Combined, these factors yield orders of magnitude improvement in panspermia efficiency vs the Sun.

> But if 2-9-3 really had been isolated from its relative for a quarter billion years, enough random mutations in the rDNA should have accumulated for there to be a difference of at least 50 base pairs

Occams razor definitely points to this just being a sterilization problem. But it would be funny if the bacteria was just way more stable than people expect.

The article discussed how a piece of rock could be ejected from Mars and land on Earth without ever getting hot, but I’m wondering whether living cells or even spores could survive the acceleration involved.

Based on the article, there is solid proof that microbes can remain viable for up to 100,000 years.

I would have liked to find life in mars/the moon. At this point I think we should be tying to spread life everywhere.

An article like this that makes no mention of Tardigrades?

"They are among the most resilient animals known, with individual species able to survive severe conditions – such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation – that would quickly kill most other forms of life. They have survived exposure to outer space." [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

> Temperature is a bigger factory

Since the author is here: stray 'y' there, probably. Fun read, though, especially mere hours after finishing Project Hail Mary.

Tangent, but why does Ceglowski keep using Tanpopo as a synonym for Japanese? Am I missing a subtlety here or what?

For a brief moment there, seeing just the headline, I thought this was going to be about Pinboard.

This article buries what should be the lede. We can say with some confidence that there IS life on Mars, because we put it there.

For you, life cannot wait. Please go out and make contacts. Be welcoming to people. Fall in love.

I wonder how my life would have turned out differently. I am a nerd. I am an introvert. I am single. Mostly, I am enjoying it. Sometimes - and increasingly more often - I am questioning it. I have baggage. Was visiting my (younger) sister's grave today. She had baggage with a sad outcome. I am thinking more about my existence.

I wish this world would be a more kind place. And I am praising anyone who is contributing to that. Try to be a contributor.

I thought this was going to be about my poor work-life balance from the title!?

Life doesn’t wait.

The exhortation carpe diem (seize the day) is very old. So it should be well known that life will not wait.

I really hate these articles that come out with these deep philosophical questions and then you open it up and it’s something stupid about microbes in a meteor or whatever. I was expecting a much more relatable read.

To answer the question, you should really not “wait” for anything in life anymore past 30. At some point between 35-45 you will likely cross the halfway point of your life and will begin the journey of being on your way out. Life has a cadence, and it’s not fun to be past that point still “waiting” for things you thought you’d have.

Obviously this advice will hit differently for people past a certain age, I’m mostly talking to people in their 20s. They can be saved, but others it may be too late.

You must actualize the person you want to be as early as you can, so you can maximize your time in life being that person. That’s when you will have “arrived” to your life, and can focus on just living instead of constantly chasing who you want to be. If you don’t, you might never get there, and then in the end if you think too much you’ll realize your life will have been a waste. That is a private hell.

At some point, if you wait too long, there may no longer be enough time or resources to actually live the life destined for you, and then it’s all over. Your chance at life expires: dreams unfinished, like cutting off in the middle of sente

Personally, the older I get the less time I can just 'sit around' without feeling the onset of the inevitable.