Resumen de Space rock strikes protected early life
Complex life evolved long before the crater formed, but there have been countless space rock strikes in Earth's history. Casey Bryce, a member of astrobiologist Charles Cockell's team at the University of Edinburgh, and her colleagues got an unusual chance to test the notion in 2008. As part of the European Space Agency's EXPOSE mission, the team sent some of the crater rocks to the International Space Station. When they cracked open the impact-shocked rocks they were able to detect chemical signals of life and rejuvenate the dormant cyanobacteria. The team's findings provide the first direct evidence that crystal cocoons formed by impacts might have been radiation-proof cradles for early life.
