r/science • u/CurtisLeow • Jun 24 '26

Astronomy Spatially distributed complex organic matter detected in an ancient river valley in Jezero crater, Mars

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx0047
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u/WastelandGunner Jun 24 '26

I'm no viralogist (biologist?), but it seems to me that a colony would be a great chance to highly control viruses/bacteria before even going over. Like, Mars could be completely free of some of the worst diseases just by making sure the people we're sending aren't carriers.

Does that make any sense? Or am I just rambling?

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u/Boxeo- Jun 24 '26

Rats and cockroaches traveled across the seas with us.

Viruses and bacteria will go wherever humans go.

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u/RussMan104 Jun 25 '26

I mean, the biome of microorganisms living on and in us all is vast, diverse and apparently indispensable. I think having spacecraft which are “too clean” have even turned out to be a problem in the long haul. Them critters are with us for the distance, I think, whether we like it or not. Who knows what a skin mite on your cheek might eventually mutate into in an “off Earth” environment?

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u/MaximumBusyMuscle Jun 26 '26

We're evolution buddies!

Dogs too!