[Sabertooth]

I think calling 20km to 41km "space" is a bit of a stretch, and the origins of these organisms are more likely to be from Earth itself than from comets. We're finding germs in the bowels of the planet, so it's not a surprise they've made it to the stratosphere.

But then, the folks behind this reasearch have no predisposition for an extraterrestrial interpretation of the results, do they?

[general_re]

I think calling 20km to 41km "space" is a bit of a stretch, and the origins of these organisms are more likely to be from Earth itself than from comets. We're finding germs in the bowels of the planet, so it's not a surprise they've made it to the stratosphere.

I think you're most likely right, but it's still interesting in terms of panspermia. These have to be some pretty sturdy bugs to survive at that height - the oxygen concentration at 41 km is 0.3% of what it is at sea level. Also, IIRC, the ozone layer is mostly concentrated between 15 and 30 km, so they have to be getting some pretty hefty doses of UV radiation. If you can survive at 41 km up, you're not far away from being able to survive in space itself....

[theFIRMbss]

>...the origins of these organisms are more likely to be from Earth itself than from comets...

If small comets are
as common as Louis Frank
thinks, panspermia

may get a new life
of its own. Today's tin foil
is tomorrow's text.

[Wonder Warthog]

"I think calling 20km to 41km "space" is a bit of a stretch, and the origins of these organisms are more likely to be from Earth itself than from comets."

Concur on this point. If they trap some bacteria from geosynchronous orbit or trans-lunar space, THEN they have "something to crow about".

"We're finding germs in the bowels of the planet, so it's not a surprise they've made it to the stratosphere."

Yeah! I now believe that the "biosphere" started to develop as soon as the earth warmed enough to form liquid water in the interstices of the planet--LONG before there was life on the surface.

[RightWhale]

There was another article today about the independent confirmation of the space-microbe rain.