lithopanspermia means the transfer of life-bearing rocks, ejected from one planet, onto the surface of another.
Why “lithopanspermia” is a great word
The hypothesis that microorganisms, spores, or prebiotic materials are transported between planetary bodies within meteoroids, asteroids, or other rocky ejecta. From litho- (from Greek lithos, "stone") + panspermia (from Greek pan-, "all" + sperma, "seed"). Unlike directed panspermia, which implies deliberate seeding by intelligence, or exogenesis, which merely posits an extraterrestrial origin, lithopanspermia describes a purely mechanical, accidental voyage. It is a bacterium tucked into a fissure of basalt, surviving the explosive launch from a world; a spore frozen in silent tomb of ice for eons; and the final, fiery descent through an alien atmosphere—a testament to life as tenacious flotsam, forever cast on the gravitational tides of the void.
Etymology
From litho- + panspermia.
noun
- The transfer of life-bearing rocks, ejected from one planet, onto the surface of another.e.g.“This experimental evidence supports the possibility of interplanetary transport of lifeforms and makes the lithopanspermia hypothesis more realistic.”
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