Although I haven't read Andy Weir's PROJECT HAIL MARY or watched the movie, I was intrigued by an article about it in the May-June 2026 issue of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. The antagonist in this story, the Astrophage, is a species of algae that feeds on the energy of stars, ultimately making any planets orbiting them uninhabitable. The article explores whether any real-life extremophile organisms can do what this microbe does.
One analogous ability of an actual earthly life form: A bacterium called Deinococcus radiodurans can withstand ionizing radiation beyond what it would encounter in interstellar space, with a cell wall that shields against radiation and the ability to repair damaged DNA by having multiple copies of its genome.
What about the heat of the sun or other stars? The most heat-resistant terrestrial microbe, Methanopyrus kandleri, can survive extreme temperatures up to 251 degrees F. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be able to survive sun-level heat.
Another ability of Astrophage unavailable to earthly organisms: It can travel through space at "ridiculous speeds using a specific wavelength of infrared light." No real-world microbe can do that.
What about changing a planet's climate to make it unlivable? Two and a half billion years ago, cyanobacteria transformed Earth's atmosphere to an oxygen environment, good for us but lethal to some previously existing life forms. Today, greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide "are primarily microbial in origin."
So we find that "tiny things" far too small for us to perceive without special instruments "can have mighty impacts on an entire planet." As the article's conclusion admonishes, we big creatures should remain mindful of the mighty impacts we can have.
Margaret L. Carter
Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.
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