3 ms·

And here's the obligatory XKCD link: https://xkcd.com/1217/ https://xkcd.com/1217/

• sandworm101 11y ago
  Can a handgun kill bacteria? I remember reading about experiments to test whether bacteria could survive meteor impacts. They couldn't come up with a gun powerful enough to wipe them out. Here: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F3-540-25736-5_3 http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F3-540-25736-5_3
  • ezequiel-garzon 11y ago
    I would cede karma points to comments like this! It reminds me of my all-time HN favorite: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1611792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1611792
  • Retric 11y ago
    Spores != bacteria. Further, can kill is not the same as sterilize, so yes a handgun can kill some bacteria in much the same way a bullet wound kills some skin cells. They are probably less susceptible to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_shock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_shock though. Though, without actually sterilizing a sample it can be difficult to notice, but lot's of things kill bacteria. They are easy to kill, but hard to kill off. PS: Spore formation in bacteria is not the principal method of reproduction but simply a method of surviving unfavourable conditions. They are like pinecones which can survive forest fires while pine trees tend to burn really easily.