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吃陨石的微生物可能会暗示我们外星人的起源

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2019年12月10日

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Microbe that eats meteorites might hint at our alien origins

吃陨石的微生物可能会暗示我们外星人的起源

There are those who believe that we're born of aliens, and not all of them wear tin foil hats.

有些人相信我们是外星人,但不是所有人都戴着锡箔纸做的帽子。

In fact, it's a topic of serious scientific investigation. The idea is sometimes called the "panspermia hypothesis," which proposes that life on Earth did not originate here, but rather was seeded by meteorites carrying alien microorganisms that arose on some other rock in the far-flung universe.

事实上,这是一个严肃的科学研究课题。这种观点有时被称为“生源说”,它认为地球上的生命并非起源于此,而是由携带着外星微生物的陨石在遥远的宇宙中其它岩石上形成的。

A meteorite from the NWA 869 strewn field. (Photo: H. Raab [CC 3.0 license]/Wikimedia Commons)

Of course, without any known evidence of alien microbes from elsewhere, it's a difficult hypothesis to test. But new research recently published in the journal Scientific Reports might offer a boost to this much-debated idea.

当然,没有任何已知的证据表明来自其他地方的外来微生物,这是一个很难验证的假设。但最近发表在《科学报告》杂志上的一项新研究可能会推动这一备受争议的观点。

The study authors, led by astrobiologist Tetyana Milojevic from the University of Vienna, looked at a peculiar microbe by the name of Metallosphaera sedula, which is known for its voracious metal-hungry appetite. Because meteorites are filled with lots of the food that these microbes crave, researchers wanted to see how well the bugs adapted to a steady diet of extraterrestrial rock.

这项研究的作者是维也纳大学的天体生物学家泰提亚娜·米洛耶维奇,他们观察了一种名为“赛杜拉”的特殊微生物,这种微生物以其对金属的巨大胃口而闻名。由于陨石中充满了这些微生物所渴求的大量食物,研究人员想要看看这些微生物是如何适应地外岩石的稳定饮食的。

What they found was quite remarkable. Not only did the M. sedula heartedly chomp on the meteorites, but they actually harvested food from the space debris more efficiently than they could from Earth stones.

他们的发现相当惊人。它们不仅一心一意地啃食陨石,而且实际上它们从太空碎片中获取食物的效率比从地球上的石头中还要高。

"M. sedula was capable of autotrophic growth on stony meteorite NWA 1172, utilizing metals trapped within it as the sole energy source," wrote the authors. "When grown in the presence of NWA 1172, cells of M. sedula were characterized by intensive vivid motility."

“M. sedula能够在NWA 1172石质陨石上自养生长,利用其中的金属作为唯一的能量来源,”作者写道。当在NWA 1172存在下生长时,赛杜拉m.s edula细胞具有强烈的生动的运动性。

The meteorites clearly produced healthier, fitter microorganisms. Scientists guessed that this might have to do with the diverse content of tasty minerals found on the space rocks. Some of the meteorite material contained around 30 different types of metals, which gave M. sedula a very balanced diet.

陨石显然产生了更健康、更适宜的微生物。科学家猜测,这可能与在太空岩石中发现的各种美味矿物质有关。一些陨石材料含有大约30种不同类型的金属,这给了塞杜拉m.s edula一个非常平衡的饮食。

While this research is hardly proof of panspermia, it does offer a model for how the idea could have worked. Imagine hardy M. sedula-like organisms thriving on some metal-rich alien world in a galaxy far, far away. Then, suddenly, a catastrophe: a collision with another planet. Such a collision could have sent the organisms flying through space, clinging to debris from the world-shattering event.

虽然这项研究很难证明生源说,但它确实为这个想法如何运作提供了一个模型。想象一下,在一个遥远的星系里,在某个富含金属的外星世界里,生命力顽强的濑户龙类生物正在茁壮成长。然后,突然,一场灾难:与另一颗行星的碰撞。这样的碰撞可能会让这些生物飞向太空,紧紧抓住这次世界大地震的残骸不放。

But this was an intergalactic voyage that they could survive, because they had all the food they needed for the journey: the meteor that would become their transport.

但这是一次他们能够幸存下来的星际旅行,因为他们有旅途中需要的所有食物:成为他们运输工具的流星。

Imagine next that this microbe-carrying meteor found itself on a collision course with a newly-formed planet Earth. Maybe these were the kinds of organisms that first landed on our barren world, eventually evolving into life as we know it today. At the very least, this new research on M. sedula paints a pretty picture as to how this story could have been possible.

接下来想象一下,这颗携带微生物的流星发现自己正处于与新形成的行星地球的碰撞过程中。也许这些就是最初出现在我们贫瘠世界的生物,最终进化成我们今天所知道的生命。至少,这项对塞杜拉先生的新研究为这个故事的发生描绘了一幅美丽的图画。

It's weird to think that an organism like M. sedula could have been our primordial Adam-and-Eve. Though if you ever find yourself with an odd, unexplained craving for a metal snack, perhaps you'll know why.

想到像塞杜拉先生这样的生物可能是我们的亚当和夏娃的祖先,真是不可思议。如果你发现自己有一种奇怪的,无法解释的对金属零食的渴望,也许你会知道为什么。


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