Scientists from Cornell University and the University of Edinburgh sent bacteria and fungi to the International Space Station (ISS) to see if they could do something amazing: pull metals out of meteorites in space. The microbes were placed on small pieces of space rock, and guess what? They worked! One fungus was especially good at releasing valuable metals like platinum and palladium, even in microgravity. Surprisingly, the microbes performed better than non-living chemical methods in space. Specifically, microgravity changed how the microbes behaved: the fungus produced more of the acids that help break down minerals.
Why does this matter?
Future astronauts won’t be able to carry everything from Earth. If microbes can help “mine” useful materials from asteroids or meteorites, space missions could become cheaper, smarter, and more sustainable. This suggests that living systems might help future space missions harvest essential resources from rocks rather than carrying everything from Earth.
The work is part of broader research into “biomining,” showing that tiny life forms could play a big role in sustainable space exploration — and maybe even help with mining back on Earth one day! There could be a huge potential hidden in these tiny microbes.
Source: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/02/microbes-harvest-metals-meteorites-aboard-space-station
The Cosmic Countertop 
Leave a comment