Did life hitchhike through the Solar System?
Astronomers suggest microscopic organisms, such as tardigrades, can be transported between planets by fast-moving streams of space dust.
Astronomers have long believed that asteroid (or comet) impacts were the only natural way to transport life between planets. However, a new study published November 6 in Astrobiology suggests otherwise.
The study, authored by Professor Arjun Berera from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy, suggests that life on Earth may have begun when fast-moving streams of space dust carried microscopic organisms to our planet. Berera found that these streams of interplanetary dust are not only capable of transporting particles to Earth, but also from it. Source
Of course! And everyone knows that, given enough time, tardigrades will evolve into dinosaurs, kumquats, and Beethoven -- given enough pixie dust!
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