Viruses Are Likely to Be the First Extraterrestrial Life Human Will Encounter

In the “War of the Worlds” by Herbert Wells Martian invaders were defeated by the common cold, which none of the sides took into account. Could something similar happen to the astronauts who will land on Mars? What if the first extraterrestrial life form humans will come into contact with will be viruses? These issues are posed in the journal Astrobiology by Dale Griffin.

Biologists do not consider viruses living beings. They are smaller than bacteria and cannot reproduce themselves: that is why to survive they need to invade a cell and use its genetic tools. Nevertheless, it is viruses that rule the world: right now on earth there are 10 million trillion trillion viruses, and one in ten lives in the oceans. Since their replication is totally dependent on cellular life, wherever there are cells,there are also viruses.

Mr. Griffin, a microbiologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, thinks that it is probable to face a similar situation on other inhabited planets: “I think the evolution of cellular life on other planets takes place as well as on Earth. And next to the cells there will be also a mind-blowing amount of viruses.”

He notes that astrobiologists are not very friendly with this idea. This is partly due to the fact that the studies of recent years concern only the viruses which cause diseases in humans and animals. It is understandable, because studying viruses is no easy matter.

“Only recently there appeared the molecular tools that made it possible to determine the number and degree of diversity of the viruses in the world“, says Mr. Griffin. Another problem is that the earthly viruses in most cases have become symbionts of their hosts, that is why, for example, a person cannot catch a cold from a dog and vice versa. Therefore, for a detailed study of viruses, it is necessary to grow a host cell in the laboratory (usually bacteria are used for this purpose), but the hosts of many viruses are still unknown. As a result, the study of viruses goes slowly.

But times change, and Mr. Griffin believes that it is time to think about extraterrestrial viruses. Biologist Kenneth Stedman of Portland State University (USA) is ready to support his colleague. “Viruses obviously have a strong influence on life on earth,” he said. “The question is how important viruses are for life, but definitely without them it would be different.”

It is unknown when viruses appeared on Earth, but they certainly originated in ancient times. Perhaps they were the factor that pushed evolution to create cells. Intruding into the cell, the virus unpacks its own genetic material and tries to attach it to the cell genome. If replication is successful, the virus captures a bit of genetic information and transfers it from cell to cell, from body to body.

Of course, viruses are harmful, but not always. For example, if a cell is damaged by ultraviolet radiation, a virus which has genes resistant to UV light can pass them to the cell, and it will try to heal the wounds. Conversely, damaged viruses can restore the ability to replicate, if the cell is flooded with numerous viruses that got the opportunity to exchange genetic information and thereby produce a complete viral genome.

As a result, viruses are extremely hardy. They are persistent, well-adapted to the new conditions and are able to stay long in hibernation until better times. While outside a host cell viruses are inert, they can survive in extreme conditions. For instance, viruses have been found in the water of hot springs of Yellowstone National Park in the United States at a temperature of 93° C. At the same time they survive in very salty water at a temperature of -12° C, while the influenza virus is stored in labs at -70° C. In the absence of cell, water is not necessary, and viruses simply remain inactive, quietly waiting for entering the cell.

Imagine a planet where life has long disappeared, for example, Mars. Although it is not yet proven that there existed life in the hypothetical period when our neighbor planet was warm and humid, we will assume that the primitive organisms were born and were accompanied by viruses. Since on Earth most viruses are specific to the host, Mr. Griffin argues that on other planets the situation will be the same. But then Martian life extinct (or nearly extinct), the viruses got a serious problem. If they continue to be specific, they will disappear along with their hosts. If they acquire the ability to penetrate into any cell and exchange genetic information with it, they will survive.

Therefore, it is possible that on Mars (if there is anything left) there are organisms that are waiting for any form of life to get there. Perhaps the equipment sent to Mars to search for life should also be ‘taught’ to detect such organisms. Mr. Griffin has a few ideas about how to do it. There are concentrators based on microelectromechanical systems used in chromatography and spectroscopy. They are used in microscopic separators, nucleic sequencers and microscopes. So it is possible to take a soil sample and look for organisms similar to viruses. At the same time we would find cells, decipher samples of DNA and RNA (or whatever they have) and understand how much they are similar to terrestrial counterparts.

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‘Comet of the Century’ Survived But Lost Most of Its Mass

Scientists are surprised, referring to a shine coming from a small part of the “Comet of the Century”, which, however, seems to be heading towards disintegration.

The ISON seems to be “injured” but “alive” after the “hot embrace” with the center of our solar system.

According to the latest data available to scientists, the ISON may have lost about 3 million tonnes and is heading towards disintegration, but so far, a small part of it continues its journey into space.

What previously caused the assertion that ISON is “dead” was the fact that initially telescopes recorded it entering perihelion, i.e. the point, where the trajectory of a body in the Solar System is located at the shortest distance from the Sun, but did not record it leaving.

However, latest photos show a glow which scientists believe to be a small part of the comet.

The calculations, based on the latest data, show that the remains of ISON will continue to glow or will just fizzle out and disappear.

“We do not even know if there is or how big the core of debris is. If so, then it is too early to say how long the comet will survive. If it survives for several days, it is still early to say whether it will still be visible in the evening sky”, refers the NASA blog.

Passing at the distance of 1.2 million km from the surface of the Sun, the ices of ISON probably evaporated at temperatures above 2,000 degrees Celsius, while the gravitational forces of the Sun exerted much pressure on the comet.

That is why the size of the piece of the comet that remains “alive” is still unknown.

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5 Tips That Will Help You Believe in Yourself

Most people on the planet are divided into two types: people who believe in themselves and those who don’t. The one category of people goes with the flow, while the other one achieves positive results in life.

Here are a few tips that will help you discover your potential and believe in yourself:

With the help of simple logic we can conclude that our faith in our abilities has a great impact on our inferences that affect our choices and decisions. If a person on a subconscious level persuades himself that he cannot solve a problem, he will fail just because he has no faith in his own abilities. Be sure that any problem can be solved, and much depends on your attitude to it. The easier your attitude to life is, the faster you will overcome the difficulties you are facing.

Some people have a habit to compare themselves to those who have tried to do something and failed, thus not giving themselves the opportunity to resolve the problem they are facing. Remember that only you can find out if you can cope with this task or not because you are different from the others. Do not give up too soon! And if you choose to compare yourself with someone else, make sure that the other person’s experience in solving a specific problem is similar or equal to yours.

To rebuild belief in yourself, sometimes it is useful to recall the situation when you achieved tremendous success in a particular field. Successes of the past do not give you a guarantee of success in the future, but they encourage you and give you confidence, which is important for your future achievements.

Respect and self-confidence come when we achieve more than we can. Anyone would be glad if he amazes with his success a professional, not a child. It is important that your belief in yourself is not weakened, so always seek to improve yourself in the field of your work. Solving more complex problems, you believe in your potential and capabilities more and more, thereby getting the recognition of others.

Often on a subconscious level we compare ourselves with the child we were. For example, if in youth you had bad experiences with the other sex, it does not mean that being adult you will have face the same situations. Escalating the situation and persuading yourself that you are not worthy to be happy in the romantic relationship can result in serious emotional problems. Of course in childhood and adolescence, we are very hard to accept our failures, as people in this period have not yet formed as a mature personality.

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Neutrinos from Deep Space Detected in Antarctica

The first cosmic neutrinos – “ghost” particles created by violent incidents on the outskirts of the universe – were discovered in the South Pole by an international team of astrophysicists.

Neutrinos, cosmic ray products with tiny, almost non-existent mass, are elementary particles like electrons, but lack electric charge.

According to a study published in the journal Science, the researchers detected through the detector IceCube 28 neutrinos from deep space in a glacier in Antarctica. These are the first particles outside our solar system observed during the last 26 years, and the discovery is believed to open a new chapter in the history of astronomy.

Still, the 28 neutrinos discovered by the IceCube detector are considered extremely important because they have a much higher energy coming from sources at the edge of the universe that have not been discovered yet.

According to the scientists, their energy is billions of times greater than the energy of solar neutrinos coming from a “nuclear furnace” of the Sun, so what created them is incredibly powerful and mysterious.

To find the particles, the scientists constructed a detector named IceCube, in a cubic kilometer of ice in Antarctica. Having created holes in the ice, the researchers placed 5,000 light sensors at depths of 1.5 to 2.5 kilometers.

Neutrinos interact with the nucleus and when this happens collisions generate an avalanche of charged particles that emit light. Thus, the sensors detect the light, and the more intense it is, the greater the energy of the neutrino is.

The IceCube detector started looking for neutrinos in 2010. Since the beginning of the research, the scientists have discovered 28 neutrinos with energies greater than 30 teraelectronvolt.

The discovery is considered extremely important because it can help us better understand the physics and the world that surrounds us.

“This is the most important project in the world particle physics. After collecting more data, it is likely to be able to discover the source of energy neutrinos in the next decade,” said Dr. Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, who participates in the research program together with other 250 physicists and engineers from dozens of countries.

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People Treat You According to What You Think about Yourself

Once Sir Francis Galton, one of the most notable figures in the history of psychology, decided to conduct a kind of experiment. Before his daily walk through the streets of London, he persuaded himself: “I am a disgusting person and everyone in England hates me!” After that, he concentrated on this belief for a few minutes and then went for a walk as he usually did.

However, it just seemed that everything was going as usual. In fact, the following happened: at every step, Francis caught queasy and contemptuous glances of passers on him. Many turned away from him, and a couple of times he heard coarse language in his address. In the port one of the movers, when Galton passed him by, hit the scientist with his elbow so much that he plopped down in the mud.

It seemed that even the animals had this hostile attitude towards him. As the scientist passed by a harnessed horse, it kicked him in the thigh, so that he fell to the ground again. Galton tried to elicit some sympathy from eyewitnesses, but to his surprise, people were on the side of the animal.

Galton hurried home, without waiting until his thought experiment would lead to even more serious consequences.

This true story is described in many psychology textbooks. From it we can draw two important conclusions:

1. People treat you according to what you think about yourself.
2. No need to inform others about your self-esteem and emotional state. Be sure that they feel it anyway.

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