As humans spread into the cosmos, we will take a plethora of initially Earth-bound life with us for the ride. Some might be more beneficial or potentially harmful than others. And there is no lifeform more prevalent on Earth than bacteria. These tiny creatures and fungi, their long-lost cousins on the evolutionary tree, have a habit of clumping together to form a type of structure known as a biofilm. Biofilms are ubiquitous in Earth-bound environments and have been noticed on space missions for decades. But what potential dangers do they pose? More interestingly, what possible problems can they solve? A paper from a group of scientists focused on life support systems in the journal Biofilm provides a high-level overview of the state of the science of understanding how biofilms work in space and where it might need to go for us to establish a permanent human presence off-world.  The paper is divided into five sub-sections, each of which examines how biofilms might impact them. The first two sub-sections focus on wet and dry areas of an object in space, while the third focuses on the potential impact on human health. Further sections include a focus on in-situ resource utilization (fourth) and biosensors (fifth). Let’s examine each one in turn. Wet surfaces are probably the place most people would expect to see a biofilm. They are ubiquitous in uncleaned toilets and other areas where a continual source of nutrients and water are available. Unfortunately, space stations and crewed spaceships have the same necessary biological plumbing and could suffer from the same problem if not managed. However, they also have wet storage areas, like the water reclamation system or fuel tanks, that aren’t necessary for Earth-based systems. All that means there are plenty of areas where biofilms can pollute these systems and cause significant problems either mechanically or biologically for the crew. Bacteria are hardy, as Fraser discusses with Dr. Michael Daly Dry surfaces are essentially the same, though tracing the spread of the bacteria is trickier as typical deposition systems, like the settling of an aerosol from a person breathing, which happens to contain thousands of bacteria, isn’t as much of a problem in space. However, astronauts still touch surfaces, which deposits bacteria as well, and their breath does have to be recycled in air cleaners, which could lead to deposits near or even on the HEPA filters that keep the air in the craft fresh.  Either way, those biofilms could prove problematic to the human occupants of any spacecraft. There are two main ways they can create problems—either through infections, especially if the astronauts drink contaminated water, or through allergies, which could be caused by things like black mold. Unfortunately, we don’t understand what, if any, impact microgravity has on all of these processes, including fundamentals like how virulent pathogens might become. However, it’s not all doom and gloom regarding biofilms in space exploration. Some biofilms can be helpful—especially by filtering valuable materials. Biofilm reactors are becoming more common in Earth-bound processes, whereby they can capture valuable materials like platinum from wastewater streams of mines or recycling plants. A similar tactic could work on Mars, where bioreactors could filter out useful molecules like nitrogen from the atmosphere and allow human-made systems to access those resources. NASA continues testing the effects of biofilms in space.Credit – NASA Video YouTube Channel However, such systems would be useless if they weren’t controlled, and developing biosensors to monitor the health of biofilms —or lack thereof if they happen to be dangerous—will be a crucial innovation for future permanent space exploration missions. Several sensors are coming on the market that could fill that need, but more experimentation is needed to see how effective they are in microgravity.  Ultimately, humans will have to learn to live to co-exist with biofilms in space, just like we do down on Earth. Whether that relationship is adversarial, symbiotic, or some combination of both will be primarily up to us. But, as mentioned by the paper, and that holds for most things in the realm of science, it would be good if we had a better understanding of how these systems work in this new environment. Otherwise, we might be setting ourselves up for a very avoidable disaster. Learn More:Justiniano et al. – Mitigation and use of biofilms in space for the benefit of human space explorationUT – There’s a Surprising Amount of Life Deep Inside the Earth. Hundreds of Times More Mass than All of HumanityUT – Instead of Building Structures on Mars, we Could Grow Them With the Help of BacteriaUT – Earth’s toughest bacteria can survive unprotected in space for at least a year Lead Image:Graphic depicting the various uses of biofilms.Credit – NASA The post How Can Biofilms Help or Hinder Spaceflight? appeared first on Universe Today.

"There are no professional astronauts aboard."

Search and rescue teams are poring over the Grand Canyon for the second day in a row during a desperate hunt for a missing hiker.

Willie Ann Rucker is the mother of a son, David (1), and two daughters, Kim (10) and Deena (9). Willie recently divorced and worked as a cocktail waitress in Waterloo, Iowa. Her sister babysat her children for Willie while she worked. Willie was having issues with a man she was dating. She contacted the Waterloo Police Department and told them the man was "scaring her," the Charley Project reports.

The following article, 12 Facts Proving That People All Over The Globe Are Already “Eating The Bugs” On A Regular Basis, was first published on Conservative Firing Line. Are you ready to “eat the bugs”?  For a long time, we have been told that “eating the bugs” is just a “conspiracy theory”, but as you will see below more than 2 billion people around the world already eat bugs on a regular basis.  More than 2,000 types of edible insects are being consumed, … Continue reading 12 Facts Proving That People All Over The Globe Are Already “Eating The Bugs” On A Regular Basis ...

REST IN PEACE, Alexandra. https://twitter.com/tulloch1978 The cause of death for a Australian YouTuber, known as Pretty Pastel Please, has been revealed after she tragically passed away at the age of 30. The social media star, whose real name is Alexandra or 'Alex', died 'suddenly' last month. On Friday, family of the influencer posted to Facebook to share details of a memorial for the star in Scotland, where her family is based, as well as sharing the coroner's report into her passing. 'Our beloved Alexandra passed away almost 6 weeks ago next Wednesday at approximately 8:30pm on the 26th of June 2024' the post began. 'It was determined by the Tasmanian Coroner that Alexandra's sudden death was due to a very rare, debilitating and fatal infection of her heart. A condition that affects approximately one in every fifteen million people ; named LYMPHOCYTIC MYOCARDITIS' it continued. 'This disease is often viral in nature and affects breath control, the heart muscle and beat as well as oxygen levels causing fatal arrhythmias and extreme lethargy and chest pain. Friends and followers would remember Alex's final two broadcasts which were cut short due to her feeling faint, and short of breath. Her channel is here:- https://www.youtube.com/@PrettyPastelPlease/videos https://www.dailymail.coDOTuk/tvshowbiz/article-13730451/Cause-death-YouTuber-Pretty-Pastel-revealed.html?ito=social-facebook UTL COMMENT:- Sorry for her and her family......