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As I understood it, Caribbean sand comes from the Sahara, and basically gets flown in as dust across the Atlantic.

Retric 8y ago
Bacteria are a different beast as UV radiation kills them vary easily. The odds of surviving a single day at altitude is fairly low. Combined with a low probability of reaching that altitude, let alone coming into contact with an viable host after such a journey push this into extreme territory.
- exhilaration 8y ago
  What about traveling at night? No UV then.
  - Retric 8y ago
    Wind is generally not fast enough to travel thousands of miles over 10ish hours.
- ddebernardy 8y ago
  Plenty of bacteria have survived going into LEO in recent decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_in_outer_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_...
  - Retric 8y ago
    Not the same thing. Those are generally protected from direct exposure to sunlight. That said some bacteria are reasonably resistant to UV. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483449/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483449/
    - ddebernardy 8y ago
      As I understood these were actually bacteria that were observed to have survived being in space, as in on the external surface of satellites and shuttles, or extreme-like conditions. One problem related to detecting life on other planets is that a number of bacteria are suspected to be able to survive the whole trip to whichever planet or space object we send a probe to. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/bacteria-in-space/520908/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/bacteria...
      - Retric 8y ago
        That’s true, but not on all surfaces. The back side of solar panels for example don’t receive direct sunlight. But, even a bolt will provide plenty of shade for bacteria. Plenty of nooks and crannies to go around. Space qualified lubricants can even provide a growth medium. Anyway, my original point was more in line with this. “Our results predict that most terrestrial bacteria would be inactivated within the first [day] on Mars if contaminated spacecraft surfaces receive direct sunlight.” And remember Mars gets far less sunlight than earth.

Bacteria are a different beast as UV radiation kills them vary easily. The odds of surviving a single day at altitude is fairly low. Combined with a low probability of reaching that altitude, let alone coming into contact with an viable host after such a journey push this into extreme territory.

exhilaration 8y ago
What about traveling at night? No UV then.
- Retric 8y ago
  Wind is generally not fast enough to travel thousands of miles over 10ish hours.
ddebernardy 8y ago
Plenty of bacteria have survived going into LEO in recent decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_in_outer_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_...
- Retric 8y ago
  Not the same thing. Those are generally protected from direct exposure to sunlight. That said some bacteria are reasonably resistant to UV. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483449/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483449/
  - ddebernardy 8y ago
    As I understood these were actually bacteria that were observed to have survived being in space, as in on the external surface of satellites and shuttles, or extreme-like conditions. One problem related to detecting life on other planets is that a number of bacteria are suspected to be able to survive the whole trip to whichever planet or space object we send a probe to. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/bacteria-in-space/520908/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/bacteria...
    - Retric 8y ago
      That’s true, but not on all surfaces. The back side of solar panels for example don’t receive direct sunlight. But, even a bolt will provide plenty of shade for bacteria. Plenty of nooks and crannies to go around. Space qualified lubricants can even provide a growth medium. Anyway, my original point was more in line with this. “Our results predict that most terrestrial bacteria would be inactivated within the first [day] on Mars if contaminated spacecraft surfaces receive direct sunlight.” And remember Mars gets far less sunlight than earth.