Placozoa are small, living, blobs of cells. They feed through their ‘skin’, can regenerate from only a small amount of cells, and reproduce asexually by splitting off parts of themselves. However, they have only rarely been observed in nature and scientists have yet to find any fossils of Placozoans.

Image of a Placozoa.

A new theory by our resident space biologist Allen Gringholm states that Placozoa are actually descendants of a massive blob of an alien which crashed into Earth millions of years ago.  The force of the impact broke it into pieces which shot into the atmosphere and spread all over the planet. Due to the resilient nature of this creature, the disparate parts of its body were able to survive as a new form of life. Dr. Gringholm has some concerns about the presence of the unassuming creatures on our planet.

“These small creatures might seem simple, but I’d argue that their attributes are extraordinarily dangerous if these Placozoa ever came together and attempted to reform into a being similar to their blob of an ancestor, which I believe was a massive and intelligent space traveling organism. Consider the fact that Placozoa are virtually indestructible, invisible from different angles, and can absorb food through their ‘skin’. Sounds like a fearsome opponent. People might dismiss The Blob as hokey sci-fi horror. However, the fiction might be closer to fact than we’d like to acknowledge.”

Dr. Gringholm says his research is ongoing.  Read more about Placozoa here.

A microscopic animal species known as Water Bears (Tardidgrades) can survive the extreme conditions of outer space, states a recent report at Scientific American.

Ecologist Ingemar Jonsson launched the tough little bastards into space on the Foton M3 mission.  During the experiments, the Water Bears lived in the vacuum of space for 10 days.  This groundbreaking study proves that there are animals who can survive space flight unprotected.  This isn’t news to the staff at The Loki Times. 

But the little Water Bears weren’t only exposed to the vacuum of space – they were also bombarded with cosmic radiation.  The possible effects ofthis radiation have not been discussed at any length, but our science advisors, like space biologist Allen Gringholm, say this should not be overlooked.

“Tardidgrades are microscopic creatures…but for how long?  Exposing these things to cosmic radiation ranks high in my book of bad ideas.  If you are familiar with the story of Bruce Banner and The Incredible Hulk, well, need I say more?  I mean look at the things.  You want to see one of them grown a million times their regular size falling out of the sky?” asks Gringholm.

Get more information on Water Bears.

Read article at Scientific American.

In a report at Science Daily on the origins of cosmic dust, Dr. Mathew Genge from the Imperial College London says that “There are hundreds of billions of extraterrestrial dust particles falling though our skies. This abundant resource is important since these tiny pieces of rock allow us to study distant objects in our solar system without the multi-billion dollar price tag of expensive missions.”

The origins of this dust has been unknown for sometime, but scientists think they now know where it comes from, think being the operative word. Dr. Genge believes, after careful analysis of hundreds of pieces of alien dust, that the origin of the extraterrestial debris is a collection of ancient space rocks known as the Koronis asteroids.

This explanation is unsatisfactory and a little too convenient for some. It’s been long thought by our own resident space biologist, Arthur Gringholm, that the origin of this dust is the sheddings of alien skin. According to Gringholm, there are large alien life forms that live in outer space. These aliens, like humans, shed skin cells regularly, creating the cosmic dust that bombards our planet.

“Naysayers from the scientific community have long dismissed this theory, going so far as to ignore the evidence right in front of their eyes,” reports Gringholm. “One need look no further than hundreds of pictures of these alien lifeforms captured by earth telescopes but mislabeled by so-called experts as ‘celestial bodies’ or ‘asteroids’.”

While Gringholm believes these alien beings pose no immediate threat, he states that they could be very dangerous. “There are many ancient cults still in existence today who worship these beings, because they are aware of their awesome power and intelligence. If they wanted to, I have no doubt they could cause human civilization a great deal of harm.”

Read the article at Science Daily.com.