Can Viruses Travel Between Planets?

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With the global pandemic of Covid 19 still encompassing the world, we are generally not big fans of viruses right now. But we sure are thinking about them a lot. That’s right, even astrophysicists are pondering these bizarre little critters. In fact, astrovirology, although very new, is actually an emerging subfield of astrobiology. And that’s because it turns out viruses don’t just influence organisms - they’re incredibly important on a planetary scale. Perhaps an interplanetary scale.

Virology Links:

Dr. Vincent Racaniello's Columbia University virology course:

PBS Eons Where do Viruses Come From?

Hosted by Matt O'Dowd

Written by Katie McCormick & Matt O'Dowd

Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, & Pedro Osinski

Directed by: Andrew Kornhaber

Camera Operator: Bahaar Gholipour

Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg

#space #astrophysics #astrovirology

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