gearholder:

speciesofleastconcern:

the-awkward-turt:

sagansense:

Earth’s upper atmosphere—below freezing, nearly without oxygen, flooded by UV radiation—is no place to live. But last winter, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that billions of bacteria actually thrive up there.

Expecting only a smattering of microorganisms, the researchers flew six miles above Earth’s surface in a NASA jet plane. There, they pumped outside air through a filter to collect particles.

Back on the ground, they tallied the organisms, and the count was staggering: 20 percent of what they had assumed to be just dust or other particles was alive. Earth, it seems, is surrounded by a bubble of bacteria.

Now what? Read the whole story over at PopSci…

The more you learn about science the more you realize that we actually know very very little about the incredible world we live in.

“When you get your Bachelors you think you know everything. When you get your Masters you realize you don’t know anything. When you get your PhD you realize no one knows anything.” -PhD student

Thank you space bacteria for being our force field of life

SCP-2798′s contingency measures are in motion . _.