How Bacteria Battle on Water Planets express
Simple equations that describe fox and rabbit cycles have been turned to bacteria on distant exoplanets, like K2-18 b. These worlds hold deep oceans under thick hydrogen skies. Like duckweed on a pond, light-eating microbes cover the sunlit water surface, stealing light from those below.
Researchers simulated an ocean column with five bacterial species. Without viruses, phototrophs monopolize resources — much like an algal bloom turning a lake green. But on planets locked in endless day (one side always facing the star), there are no day-night cycles. Populations stay stable, never surging, though smaller overall.
And here’s the twist: these bacteria might feed not only on light but also on the hydrogen enveloping the planet, a far more abundant fuel.
Some earthly bacteria thrive on hydrogen, anticipating the atmosphere of distant ocean planets.
In Stanisław Lem’s ‘Solaris’, a sentient planetary ocean defies comprehension, a literary echo of these microbial rivalries.