Alien critters may be invading the Moon

[Stephen Harker]

See:
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

[Dorothy J Heydt]

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.

And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

[Kevrob]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

From Gidney's and Cloyd's points of view, they are alien. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidney_%26_Cloyd

Would tardigrades survive scrooching?

http://thetinkersworkshop.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-scrooch-gun-project-is-born.html

Kevin R

[Dorothy J Heydt]

Post by Kevrob

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

From Gidney's and Cloyd's points of view, they are alien. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidney_%26_Cloyd

Yes, but ...

How can I put this tactfully?

They are fictional. Tardigrades are real.

Post by Kevrob
Would tardigrades survive scrooching?

Almost certainly. They survive everything else.

[Peter Trei]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Kevrob

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

From Gidney's and Cloyd's points of view, they are alien. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidney_%26_Cloyd

Yes, but ...
How can I put this tactfully?
They are fictional. Tardigrades are real.

Post by Kevrob
Would tardigrades survive scrooching?

Almost certainly. They survive everything else.

Not really.

SFW:

Tier zoo is a wonderful channel, devoted to critiquing life on earth as if they were player classes in a planet scale RPG. Lots of fun, but very well researched.

Pt

[Stephen Harker]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

They may not be alien to the Earth, but they are alien to the Moon.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Post by Stephen Harker

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

They may not be alien to the Earth, but they are alien to the Moon.

For now....

[Dorothy J Heydt]

Post by Dimensional Traveler

Post by Stephen Harker

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

They may not be alien to the Earth, but they are alien to the Moon.

For now....

Unless they find a way of breaking out of their cysts and living
on the lunar surface, in which case we would have to rename them
_[Genus]* lunaris_.

_____
*There are many genera of tardigrades -- _Tardigrada_ is a
*phylum*, containing at least three classes -- and I haven't found
a source that bothers to tell us what genus/species was sent to the
moon. Does anybody know?

[David DeLaney]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Dimensional Traveler

Post by Stephen Harker

Post by Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Stephen Harker
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-hordes-earth-toughest-creatures-moon.html

Well, they're *there*, but I don't think they can do any invading
so long as they're encysted.
And they're not alien, they're terrestrial, and besides that,
they're cute.

They may not be alien to the Earth, but they are alien to the Moon.

For now....

Unless they find a way of breaking out of their cysts and living
on the lunar surface, in which case we would have to rename them
_[Genus]* lunaris_.

ObSF: the scene in the Inquestor series where Kelver is chasing Darktouch
through Shendering, the Scrambled City, which is a messy jigsaw puzzle of
little pieces of land all over one planet with teleport roads, similar to
Niven's stepping disks, connecting the pieces... and he remembers that she had
been fascinated by the legend that there were a few pieces of the City on the
planet's _moon_, and also by a low-level plant-ish thing called rosella that
could spore and live anywhere on the planet under all sorts of conditions. One
guess where he finally tracked her down, and what he had to do with his
skinsuit...

Dave, and then there were strange blooms

ps: no, I haven't reread those four way too many times. why do you ask?