The spores — which astronauts spend hours cleaning every week — can survive X-ray exposure at 200 times the dosage that would kill a human being, according to Marta Cortesao, a microbiologist at the German Aerospace Centre in Cologne, who is presenting the research.
And that’s not all. The common mould spores found on the ISS — aspergillus and penicillium — can also survive extreme temperatures, ultraviolet light, chemicals and dry conditions. Their resilience not only makes it harder to clean, but more likely to survive long-term.
A few science fiction story starters here.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
