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Panspermia, Past and Present: Astrophysical and Biophysical Conditions for the Dissemination of Life in Space

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 October 2010

Abstract

Astronomically, there are viable mechanisms for distributing organic material throughout the Milky Way. Biologically, the destructive effects of ultraviolet light and cosmic rays means that the majority of organisms arrive broken and dead on a new world. The likelihood of conventional forms of panspermia must therefore be considered low. However, the information content of damaged biological molecules might serve to seed new life (necropanspermia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Paul S. Wesson

  2. Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Victoria, B.C., V9E 2E7, Canada

    Paul S. Wesson

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  1. Paul S. Wesson
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Correspondence to Paul S. Wesson.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-011-9752-5

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Wesson, P.S. Panspermia, Past and Present: Astrophysical and Biophysical Conditions for the Dissemination of Life in Space. Space Sci Rev 156, 239–252 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-010-9671-x

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