00:00Imagine an asteroid slamming into Mars with such force that chunks of the planet are blasted into space.
00:06Now imagine tiny living microbes hitching a ride on that flying debris.
00:10It sounds impossible, but new research says it might actually happen.
00:14A super-tough bacterium called Deenococcus radiodurans is famous for surviving radiation and extreme dryness.
00:20But scientists led by Lily Zhao and K.T. Ramesh pushed it even further.
00:25Their question.
00:26Could this microbe survive the crushing shock of an asteroid impact on Mars?
00:31To find out, they squeezed the bacteria between steel plates.
00:34Then blasted it with a third plate to recreate the brutal forces of an impact.
00:39We're talking pressures up to 3 GPA.
00:41That's 30,000 times Earth's atmosphere.
00:44At 2,4 GPA, some cells started bursting.
00:47About 60% survived, even after being crushed almost beyond recognition.
00:53Then something even more incredible happened.
00:54The survivors flipped into urgent repair mode.
00:57Their genes activated like an emergency response team, patching up damage fast.
01:02All of this suggests one stunning possibility.
01:05If microbes this tough existed on Mars, a violent asteroid strike could launch them into space.
01:11Meaning life might actually travel between worlds.
01:13And if that's true, the story of life in our solar system might be far more connected than we ever
01:19imagined.
01:20Let's see.
01:20You
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