Microbes Might Survive on Mars | SciShow News

We’re all excited about the Mars rover Perseverance this week, but scientists are also working on some other exciting things!
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[@billieticklish]

When your 30-million-dollar soap can't even kill that 0.01% germs

[@saihemanth3704]

Lol😂

[@Brownyman]

These prequel episodes of "The Expanse" are getting really good!

[@WisdomShark]

Let's just hope there aren't any sontarans behind this ATMOS

[@nicholasmackley8580]

Literally just watched those episodes last night

[@Dog-eg8lc]

@@nicholasmackley8580 SONTAR-HA!

[@jameskegley4006]

exactly what I was thinking

[@Apollysis]

I looked at the comments when they said the name SPECIFICALLY for this.

[@nymphrodellsalavin]

You know the full scishow intro has a dalek in it? And once the TARDIS showed up in crash course history So Hank know, and is probably holding back laughter...

[@UKdajenx]

Nevermind cyanobacteria, take potatoes, they're the real martian food source 😉

[@TheDonMan97]

And some human poop

[@gothiccck6296]

Only with tomato ketchup

[@maattthhhh]

And bring in Matt Damon while we're at it 😅

[@walperstyle]

sweet potatoes.

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

@@gothiccck6296 Human poop with tomato ketchup? I'll pass.

[@MrTomtomtest]

Also: bacteria can evolve way faster than bigger organisms as they go thru generations much faster. Growing colonies in a lower pressure container is already selecting the ones more likely to develop & thrive in that setting. Maybe if we do that long enough and at lower & lower pressure we can "breed" bacteria that would thrive in the Martian atmo.

[@mrscootervids]

Clutch idea

[@daviddavids2884]

then what. you got happy bacteria and humans with NO air to breathe. jeezuss

[@ColonelBanana]

So ancient aliens explored Earth, similar to us exploring Mars, and their rovers left microbes which started life on Earth. Good to know.

[@ireallyhatemakingupnamesfo1758]

Replace "rover" with "asteroid" and you have a fairly widespread scientific theory, called panspermia

[@michaelmayhem350]

According to a number of KZbin videos Martians coloniated earth 🌎 when Mars was dying and this is why Martians helped build the pyramids 😂🤣😂🤣

[@largecoke4087]

It's possible but there is zero evidence for this. Also people that push this idea usually want you to buy their product.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

@@michaelmayhem350 all of their evidence comes from "Mission to Mars" :))

[@MaxTax_]

@@michaelmayhem350 it is a fun idea tho lol, but not much evidence for it unfortunately

[@arashmoradian1988]

why not genetically modify or force evolution by exposing the bacteria to gradually harsher conditions untill we hit something resembling the state of mars?

[@letterbomb211]

Dangerous thing to play with ! The bacteria could become hostile to humanity, infect people and then suddenly an unstoppable world pandemic!

[@-cookiezila-461]

@@letterbomb211 prob not gonna happen lol

[@midhunsunilkumar7099]

Evolution like that could take decades

[@arashmoradian1988]

@Monroe Harmon you are right many bacteria evolve quickly, even if it took decades, though, we'd have enough time provided we start right away.

[@arashmoradian1988]

@@letterbomb211 You are correct that the bacteria might evolve in unpredictable manners that might even be harmful to us, but scientists are already handling highly infectious and dangerous viruses and bacteria, they'll surely be able to manage the risks

[@PrecioustheMovie1]

I’m going to predict right now with my lack of knowledge and experience that microbes can definitely survive on Mars.

[@Bhoddisatva]

Enough scientists speculate that its possible that I'm comfortable agreeing with the prospect. It's going to happen like it or not.

[@nwabuezeozuzu6370]

It is not possible. Earth and Mars have existed for the same length of time under different environments, yet we don't have greenery on Mars. Mars is desolate and would only benefit us by mining precious/rare elements.

[@Bhoddisatva]

@@nwabuezeozuzu6370 Well...we aren't really talking about 'greenery' (in the sense of forests, grasslands, or whatever). Microbes can exist in a wide variety of habitats, often extremely hostile. Heck microbes thrived for billions of years on a Earth whose environment was far more hostile then what we experience today.

[@nwabuezeozuzu6370]

@@Bhoddisatva but if there are microbes surviving on Mars, I bet they are not as advanced as the Earthlings. I still have fingers crossed on the chances of finding life on Mars, even on other galaxies. We are all made of "space stuff" and it is everywhere. It only needs the right conditions to evolve into complex life as we know it. Mars lacks these conditions

[@Bhoddisatva]

@@nwabuezeozuzu6370 As far as we know. We only have one example of life appearing on a single world. Alien worlds with different conditions might be suitable to other paths of life arising. We simply don't know enough to make a blanket denial of its possibility. As for Mars it was more Earth-like early in its history: with a thicker atmosphere, a magnetic field, and plentiful water upon its surface. If some forms of life developed at that time before favorable conditions disappeared then single celled critters might survive in little safe bolt holes on Mars. We just don't know.

[@paulwilliams4274]

@scishow could you start enabling captions on your videos? I am hard of hearing and captions would help out a lot! #scishow

[@iamcyber]

there is autogenerated

[@Xenos_hive]

+

[@spoodlydoodler3552]

@@iamcyber yeah, but autogenerated is awful cause they generally change what is actually being said.

[@imgonnabefree]

U can slow down the video U know.

[@ZeMarkKrazee]

This is something I’ve thought about a lot for hard of hearing/deaf viewers. I’m surprised Complexly hasn’t required all of their KZbin channels to provide captions to increase accessibility for hard of hearing/deaf viewers. Hopefully they see your message and will do this in the future! Edit: Whoops. Changed “patients” to “viewers”. I chose the wrong context originally haha. Edit x 2: Misattributed SciShow as having a connection to PBS Digital Studios instead of Complexly. Sorry for any confusion!

[@instaperil]

Calling the perseverance rover Percy made my heart flutter

[@IanGrams]

Such a great nickname. I've heard NASA also calls Ingenuity, Ginny ☺️ I hope someone writes a children's book about Percy and Ginny.

[@dethofasalesmanhoneyboi5577]

Don’t type that some poor soul is gonna misread Percy as perky and that innocent fool is gonna get swarmed by soundcloud rappers thinking those perk30s be on deck!

[@biggusdickusiv5883]

@@IanGrams i mean harry is the main character, but they do have their roles

[@IanGrams]

@@biggusdickusiv5883 hah, admittedly I totally forgot there was a Percy Weasley. Now I wonder if they nicknamed Percy first and someone thought of Ginny as a result.

[@juliaf_]

@@biggusdickusiv5883 heh I thought of Percy Jackson first

[@Dedbeatz.]

SciShow is without doubt one of the best channels on YT! 👍

[@cococreates26]

Pretty sure there was a whole episode of Dr Who telling us that ATMOS was a bad idea 😂

[@kinomora-gaming]

Invention: *has absolutely literally anything to do with the atmosphere* Scientists: "This is my invention, atmos"

[@kirtil5177]

the name also doesnt have anything to do with the atmosphere

[@alkahest--1135]

hi kino

[@TheEnabledDisabled]

Imagine if we find life on Mars, only for it to be an evolved version of earth lifeforms

[@SaintJohnVideo]

I've seen this episode of Doctor Who.

[@advertisercommerce6990]

Would be wonderful if Closed Captioning would be turned on!

[@sandybarnes887]

It is

[@tylerrehkopf]

I've wondered for a while why some university wouldn't just set up something like ATMOS but set it up to run for 5-10 yrs and slowly lower the pressure. With the proven speed of evolutionary changes in bacteria you would think we could "breed" mars-viable microbes.

[@daviddavids2884]

i cannot figure out WHY/how doing such 'breeding' would have ANY value.!!!

[@davidconn3222]

Found today on Mars ! Malt, Hops, Yeast and Water , the Exodus from Earth begins .

[@dabr8243]

Colonizing Mars with the power of the Sontaran Empire? Glorious.

[@MarkoNara]

If there is anything alive on mars... Astronauts may consider take a supershot gun just in case.. To be safe

[@Grancoral_Bio]

ATMOS?!?!?!? This is a Sontaran invasion!!!

[@megasweetness9353]

Can you guys do a video on "voluntary generated piloerection"? It's basically giving yourself goosebumps and I want to learn more about it because apparently it's weird that I can do it.

[@kirtil5177]

yeah it is weird, it usually only happens when you are cold or scared

[@sebastienh1100]

Very interesting ! You have kept your animal ability to raise hair (just like an angry cat or a bird showing off). I envy you.

[@DRiungi]

wow, and its very rare too; ~one in every 1500 people!

[@DRiungi]

wow, and its very rare too; ~one in every 1500 people!

[@meteoman7958]

Underground tunnels on Mars, left behind from lava flows, could be sealed and pressurized to give a shielded environment for astronauts and plants.

[@sugarfrosted2005]

The Mars River Perseverence

[@KnighteMinistriez]

I have always imagined that bacteria would be used to terraform Mars. I just hope that we will start doing this in my lifetime. It would be awesome to see this.

[@LarryPhischman]

ATMOS? Every Whovian watching this video is suddenly paying extremely close attention.

[@LEDewey_MD]

Research has been exploding over the past 20 years regarding abiogenesis (life from non-life), panspermia, and the resilience of various species in the vacuum of space. This video is awesome! I strongly recommend NOVA's recent creation, 'Looking for Life on Mars", which came out just a few days ago. (It's FREE here on KZbin!!) One part shows the lengths to which NASA had to "decontaminate" everything on Perseverance so that we don't accidentally "contaminate" or colonize Mars with Earth organisms. This is also one reason for stowing away pristine soil samples under sterile conditions NOW - BEFORE we infect Mars. As the expression goes, "Life....finds a way".

[@navidahmed1]

Among all this crazy interesting news, the thing that captivated me the most was Hank's pink T shirt! I mean, how, why, when!

[@gamingguruoz]

there is no doubt an abundance of raw materials, metals etc on mars once we get there

[@Dtr146]

There's a couple of researchers that want samples from Mars so they can try to faithfully recreate the environment. The soil samples will give them a lot of information they need to tell what the environments are like

[@sluxi]

Interesting study but it's weird not to acknowledge at all that the Mars missions that we do launch have been trying to ensure we don't take any microbial life over there pretty much for as long as we've done them. Also we're actively looking for microbial life (that originated there) on mars so of course we think they "might survive on mars" although to be fair in that case we're perfectly happy to find evidence of it even if it only used to survive on mars.

[@jacob_90s]

Very small criticism, but it would have been nice to point out that NASA does make a serious effort to sterilize probes these days, especially ones that are specifically sent to investigate life. Yes, it may not be perfect, but it still should have been pointed out.

[@metairiemomma]

Hank, you are awesome for the pink t-shirt. ❣️

[@sh4mst0ne]

How come you didn't mention the fact that the NASA engineers were trying extremely thorough ways of making sure no microbes made it Mars? That seems like an oversight.

[@hagfish4998]

I honestly find NASA extreme measures on making sure Earth life doesn't get to Mars to be kinda pointless. Mars is a very lifeless planet and I don't understand why NASA is still holding on, instead of looking at other celestial bodies that have a much higher chance of supporting life, life Europa.

[@robertdobie2544]

In the far distant future, large Martian tardigrade astronauts may visit Earth and dig up our bones and wonder what we were all about.

[@zacm.2342]

ATMOS? Doctor Who warned us about this :P

[@567secret]

Scientists: "We designed this thing we've called ATMOS" Doctor Who fans: "Uh oh"

[@mariapaz6103]

Why didnt you talked about Deinococcus radiodurans

[@livingexcuse3767]

Don't want to contaminate Mars? Don't go to Mars.

[@darrellcole6311]

BTW...You look very good in that Safari shirt!

[@orangeSoda35]

Mars is cold as hell.

[@hyrumhanson3390]

And there's no one there

[@boygenius538_8]

@@hyrumhanson3390 I saw your mom there

[@shexdensmore]

What if we already had a colony on Mars?

[@sonicvenom8292]

That would be mildly terrifying, considering what might’ve changed living in such an environment.

[@grizstoepler7419]

We need to send a boring machine to dig tunnels that turn into bases and produce raw materials

[@TheDevler23]

Atmos...I saw that episode of Doctor Who. I think it was a two parter? Do they want Sauntar cloning planets? Because that's how you get Sauntar Cloning Planets!

[@frst.4633]

crazy

[@areamusicale]

it's like putting microbes in the freezer .... they probably won't do much.

[@drasticallyfantastic7164]

Send extremophiles to all planets, aim some at other stars, engineer life that may survive in comets and send them towards other stars, impregnate the univers

[@karoshi2]

Sounds like my early 20s... 🤔

[@daviddavids2884]

suggest an episode about why it's NOT possible to fly/hover, on mars.

[@darylbrown8834]

A very strong electromagnet placed at each pole along with the green house affect?

[@gab.lab.martins]

1:33 really, koji? Are they making miso up there?

[@mattstyles2498]

All we really need is a magnetic field for Mars first. That will raise the temp and melt the ice.

[@sonicvenom8292]

A magnetic field won’t raise the temperature nor melt the ice. All it’ll do is shield Mars from radiation and solar winds, which is one step closer, but won’t raise the temp by any considerable amount. We’d then have to heat the planet with various gases, then switch those with such that would chemically match the earth to some amount, both of which are gargantuan tasks, along with creating a magnetic field. It’d take a long time, hence why people are proposing non-planet wide terraforming initiatives.

[@apmm4209]

Potential biosphere ! Hilarious.

[@liwoszarchaeologist]

This whole episode I just kept thinking of the Project Genesis scientists in Wrath of Khan

[@IamINERT]

Make sure not to bring cockroaches 👁👄👁

[@misterpomelo5163]

Part 1: How do we stop Earth things from growing on Mars? Part 2: How can we get Earth things to grow on Mars?

[@rahmadrenaldi2624]

Just don't start sending cockroach to mars, mutated microbe is bad enough, you don't want to know what mutated cockroach are gonna looked like

[@Amitdas-gk2it]

Nice 👌

[@ImieNazwiskoOK]

4:01 To heavy? So how they did ISS or Apollo or any other spacecraft? And they could Literally build it from dirt there. And 5 hours experiment? You compare it to months of travel?

[@OrangeDragonofDusk]

Agreed. They definitely could build it from scratch

[@maysammirzakhalili4862]

Thank you💖💖🌹🙃🤔🙏🏻💖💖

[@kaitlyn6853]

I have no clue why people think "contaminating" mars is a bad thing, don't we want biodiversity? I say the more species of different things we can put on mars that will survive, the better. If we like nature so much, lets take it with us!

[@yoursotruly]

Have you ever heard of the tardigrade, otherwise known as the water bear, it can survive in space so Mars is a picnic for the cute little fellas, some might be gals but I don't know how they reproduce. Seriously, these guys are indestructible. Acid, radiation, or the vacuum of space, they just continue their search for a friendly puddle.

[@tempestive1]

Could you do one about funghi in space? I could find limited research, I have little doubts you'll be able to find more. And I could bet you mycelial networks will have an important role in developing extra-terrestrial ecosystems we can live healthily in :p

[@Trag-zj2yo]

The surface is inhospitable. Could the planet interior be transformed into habitat?

[@sonicvenom8292]

Possibly, going underground is a considerable option, and one that has seen much merit in the scientific community, being shielded to some amount from radiation, and the like.

[@Mirandorl]

I would say we're already way past "wouldn't want to". If we're only just realising it, by this point we've panspermia'd mars up the wazoo.

[@dandavatsdasa8345]

Have they tried using a chemical like Liquid_nitrogen to simulate the cold temperatures on Mars? Cyanobacteria? Is this basically "Blue Green Algae"? Can they use synthetic biology to manufacture microbes that can be useful and thrive on Mars? Thank you

[@جساس-ه6ح]

One solution If we could send one tree which start producing oxygen it would be life there after thousand years

[@mrchordstriker]

Start of the genesis project in a way...like in star trek.

[@artman2oo3]

Send all that stuff to Mars before we send people. Build it with AI robots that don’t need constant instruction, something like a humanoid robot that is more agile than the rovers. Have a little ecosystem ready for when we do send people.

[@Iceflkn]

Pretty sure the robots we've been sending already carried microbes there.

[@JadeMythriil]

Unfortunately, you might be right. No matter how much we clean and disinfect our equipment, there will always be even the smallest amount of microbes on things especially molds.

[@boygenius538_8]

@@JadeMythriil does it really matter

[@Irieali]

Dear host, Your reading speed has decreased by an average of 1.7%. Sorry for your loss. 🥺

[@cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647]

wouldn't we be contaminated life there in order to colonize there even though life might be extinct or dominant?

[@keithj5797]

We should be sending life forms everywhere we can. Especially Venus and Mars.

[@sumreensultana1860]

What if we force evolve them To those Climates

[@DylanMatthewTurner]

Do we really need microbes to help produce all of those things? Like, life is cool in that it figured out how to produce things through cell processes, but can't we just do chemistry to get some of that? Mars' atmosphere is CO2, N2, and Ar according to what I found online, and its surface is rust (iron oxide), so we should definitely be able to get the oxygen and nitrogen we breathe through some process, like maybe just heating it? Hydrogen is a harder one to come by, but maybe we could do some sort of nuclear fission or shoot some particles really fast to knock off a proton or something. Then we'd have O2 and N2 to breathe, H2O to drink, and CO2, H2O, and sunlight to grow crops for food. Obviously, it's a much more complex problem than that, but my point is, would we really get that much of a benefit out of using microbes vs just doing what the microbes do with chemistry or electricity or something? It feels to me like it's taking an already complex problem and adding another variable in there, which is just gonna make it even more complex, ya know?

[@sonicvenom8292]

Just reading through it, and there are many holes. The reason the solution is so complex is because the problem is so complex, so complex that most people wouldn’t be able to fully comprehend it.

[@sonicvenom8292]

Some holes is the fact of the solar winds and lack of magnetic field. Then, about the proposed proton shooting things which would require particle accelerators, it would take too long to make any difference.

[@sonicvenom8292]

Also, the plan isn’t solely to use plants and microbes. What was proposed was to use a mix of machinery and microbes, which overall would be much faster, more efficient, and more plausible.

[@hoam.4853]

Let's just send it to mars so in 500 million years, those bacterias evolve to be a new species on Mars guaranteeing that humans can colonize Mars at least 500 million years from now.

[@marxtheenigma873]

Is there carbon in Mars soil?

[@cancel1913]

It's time to realize we've; as Earth, have already copulated with Mars. Our children will be beautiful!

[@clemarusjr]

Bump antibiotics don't be out here making super strains

[@TheQue5tion]

In the disaster movie called The Core, we see that some scientists were making a device that could restart the core of Mars using magnetism. Is that possible with the technology we have today? Because if we can get the Martian core spinning again, that could solve a lot of issues with colonisation.

[@karoshi2]

Won't work. A: a planet core is way too big B: the Martian core has cooled down and hardened. Imagine a solid ball - spinning it's core means to spin the whole ball. Not only would it be uncomfortable on the surface, but also wouldn't induce a magnetic field => no protection => solar system's largest spinner, that's it.

[@okastbloart8395]

It’s not spinning because it’s frozen solid meaning you would have to somehow heat it to the point that convection currents can happen since our earth’s core uses convection currents

[@TheQue5tion]

@@karoshi2 if I remember, wasn't the device they used meant to agitate the core enough to get it heated up again? I know that electromagnets can be used to generate current in metal, which makes it hot enough to quickly melt. Although that requires having the metal piece suspended in an electromagnetic coil, which would be impossible on such a large scale. But could electromagnetism be used to generate a current in the core by some other means, or perhaps just vibrate it between two focused magnets, basically pulling and pushing it in opposing directions repeatedly, constantly causing a build up of stress until it breaks apart allowing it to move, cause friction, generate heat and get things going? Ok, now that I've written it out, it does seem near impossible with current technology.

[@heremapping4484]

@@TheQue5tion I'm sorry, but you do realize... Mars's core isn't dead. I'm not sure where the myth of Mars being a 'dead' planet comes from.

[@route2070]

Atmos, didn't Doctor Who warn is about this?

[@danglinglong2941]

This whole thing is like Ripley's believe it or not. Not

[@M3rf03]

Why dont we send tardigrades?

[@gamejew123]

bacteria on mars is life but a heart beat on earth isnt

[@nightlightabcd]

You mean like a fascist coup against this country, but it's okay if one is a Republican! You mean like that?

[@evolutionarydeadend6812]

Dumb take

[@boygenius538_8]

@@nightlightabcd when did he say that. How do you know he’s Republican. Refute the point itself not what you assume his or her other opinions are.

[@Jenk11-s1t]

Imagine finding a Virus from Mar

[@heremapping4484]

A Martian virus would be no threat to Earth-based life.

[@fyrelorde]

Just don't send genetically modified cockroaches, or we might end up like the series "Terraformers"

[@christopherg2347]

1:20 Oh, I remember those. people have been sending all kinds of stuff "to space and back". Including Garlic Bread: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWm6XpSrpsxjaJY

[@PozieNayan]

If Mars has ecosystem, human are best in destroying that ecosystem.

[@mingmingandmikki]

Ah yes, soon we’ll have the terraformars roaches

[@skylark.kraken]

Has there been any research into vitamin B12 production both in space and on Mars?

[@b9904]

Potatoes and Mars lol

[@ranchjellybean7058]

we sould be sending our biosphear there to do the teraforming for us

[@gothiccck6296]

Apparently you can with nuclear bombs

[@ishouldntbesayingthisbecau1257]

@@gothiccck6296 Curious, Source?

[@boygenius538_8]

@@ishouldntbesayingthisbecau1257 ehh only kind of. Not a perfect solution by any means.

[@heyheytaytay]

BILLIONS of dollars so we can find microbes on Mars. BFD.

[@skybattler2624]

Plot twist: Most of the life from Mars currently are from earth... and we are the ones that brought it.

[@TheConspirateWarrior]

Some theories point exactly at the opposite... Mars may has been impacted by an asteroid that destroyed the atmosphere and precipitated meteors with incipient Martian life forms into Earth atmosphere, Sagan dixit many years ago (afair)

[@uhohhotdog]

Why wouldn’t we want to put microbes on Mars? We need to terraform it as some point. Let’s get the easy part started.

[@sluxi]

Right now because we'd like to know if mars had microbial life before we got there.

[@uhohhotdog]

@@sluxi id rather go to Europa to find alien life.

[@sluxi]

@@uhohhotdog Sure, we should look there too... and Enceladus, Titan... But doesn't mean you shouldn't do it on mars.

[@jorda.2412]

Ipso facto. Vice versa.

[@pratyushbehere3580]

Terraformars confirmed

[@juniormynos9457]

If the rover on Mars found an organism that turns out to be exactly identical to a bacteria here on Earth how do scientists prove if its origin is or isn't Martian?

[@boygenius538_8]

DNA I suppose

[@Haste666]

Atmos is greek for steam.

[@NagashLordOfDeath]

There is life on Mars, Covid. Good job us, you just gave Mars covid, now it has to isolate for 10days.

[@MrRockydee07]

Everything didn't just evolve from our earth itself it came from God that created the heavens. It was life and microbiology at its best.

[@danstepka775]

thank's hank i read that nasa is trying to filter mars atmosphere in to breathable air is this true ? is it working

[@nwabuezeozuzu6370]

You can do it, but the sun would strip everything off.