Microbial diversity in relation to space travel seems like such a huge issue to think about but no one talks about it that much it seems. I’ve been thinking recently that the most dangerous thing about any aliens making first contact by just landing in a field somewhere would be the pathogens we would exchange immediately. It’s the pivotal moment in War of the Worlds, for instance, and I can’t see any way to avoid it. I did suddenly realise recently, talking about that movie, that although everyone was completely on board with the aliens dying from our bugs, no one questioned why their bugs didn’t kill us too?
Microbial diversity in relation to space travel seems like such a huge issue to think about but no one talks about it that much it seems. I’ve been thinking recently that the most dangerous thing about any aliens making first contact by just landing in a field somewhere would be the pathogens we would exchange immediately. It’s the pivotal moment in War of the Worlds, for instance, and I can’t see any way to avoid it. I did suddenly realise recently, talking about that movie, that although everyone was completely on board with the aliens dying from our bugs, no one questioned why their bugs didn’t kill us too?