A desert moss can survive five hundred times the lethal human dose of radiation
Syntrichia caninervis, a desert moss, can withstand extreme radiation and total dehydration, making it a prime candidate for becoming the first pioneer species to survive and grow on the surface of Mars.
The desert moss Syntrichia caninervis possesses an incredible biological resilience that allows it to survive 5,000 Gray (Gy) of radiation, which is 500 times the dose that would be lethal to a human. This extremophile can lose up to 98 percent of its cellular water and still resume photosynthesis within just two seconds of being rehydrated.
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