Submission + - What bugs us on Earth gets worse in space... (go.com)
Ant writes: "ABC News (one print page) says space invaders have colonized the International Space Station (ISS).
When astronaut Peggy Whitson moves into the orbiting laboratory today for a six-month stay, she'll have two human roommates — as well as countless ones invisible to the naked eye, from microbes that can corrode metal to germs that can cause serious infections in people.
Outer space is a cold and sterile place, but spaceships are not. As the 9-year-old space station ages, it's likely to grow more micro-organisms that could pose a risk to its human residents and the station itself. Adding an extra worry, scientists have seen signs that the human immune system weakens during space trips.
"Wherever man goes, microbes go," says Cheryl Nickerson of Arizona State University, who studies disease-causing micro-organisms. Most of the bugs in orbit aren't dangerous, she says, but "there's absolutely a risk ... to the crew." In a study published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nickerson found that salmonella bacteria turned deadlier after a few weeks in space. The bacteria rode into orbit as an experiment aboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s space shuttle Discovery in 2006...
Seen on Blue's News."
