Astronauts Use Bacteria and Fungi to Harvest Metals in Space

If humankind is to explore deep space, one small passenger should not be left behind: microbes. In fact, it would be impossible to leave them behind, since they live on and in our bodies, surfaces and food. Learning how they react to space conditions is critical, but they could also be invaluable fellows in our endeavor to explore space. It's a well-known fact that if humanity wishes to explore deep space and to live and work on other planets, we need to bring Earth's environment with us. This includes life support systems that leverage biological processes - aka. Bioregenerative Lif... [6650 chars]