• Question: Are there cells in space?

    Asked by Anime_Freak_Luna to Kylie, Matt, Bex, RobB, Sam on 14 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Rebecca Thompson

      Rebecca Thompson answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Great question! On the whole, if you put an unprotected human cell in space all the water would evaporate and explode. However, some cells can survive in space. One of my favourite things is called a tardigrade, sometimes called water bears, They are ‘micro animals’ that have been shown to survive in space for 10 days!

    • Photo: Kylie Belchamber

      Kylie Belchamber answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      I think there might be cells on other planets, or even aliens! So not in space as such, but on another planet.

      I also love tardigrades, they can survive anywhere, which is really cool!

    • Photo: Matt Dunn

      Matt Dunn answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Space is almost a perfect vacuum, with no atmosphere, heat, water or nutrients, things that cells need to grow, so if you put a cell in space it would die very quickly!

      However, chemicals have been found in space, and some specialised telescopes can identify organic chemicals in space, which can join together to form larger chemicals, and even travel between planets! This is one possible way that cells evolved in the first place, with a variety of different chemicals forming a larger whole 😀

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