Panspermia previously thought to be inhospitable for life. Living bacteria found in ice core samples retrieved from deep at Lake Vostok in Antarctica, have provided data for extrapolations to the likelihood of microorganisms surviving frozen in extraterrestrial habitats or during interplanetary transport. Also, bacteria have been discovered living within warm rock deep in the Earth's crust. In order to test some these organisms' potential resilience in outer space, plant seeds and spores of bacteria, fungi and ferns have been exposed to the harsh space environment. Spores are produced as part of the normal life cycle of many plants, algae, fungi and
Algae algae, of which only four are currently considered among algae. In "Systema Naturae", Linnaeus described the genera "Volvox" and "Corallina", and a species of "Acetabularia" (as "Madrepora"), among the animals. In 1768, Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (1744–1774) published the "Historia Fucorum", the first work dedicated to marine algae and the first book on marine biology to use the then new binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus. It included elaborate illustrations of seaweed and marine algae on folded leaves. W.H.Harvey (1811—1866) and Lamouroux (1813) were the first to divide macroscopic algae into four divisions based on their pigmentation. This is the first use of