--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the rocky ejecta from an impact hails…" description: "\"“If the rocky ejecta from an impact hails from a planet with life, then microscopic fauna could have stowed away in the rocks’ nooks and crannies. Thir..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09f/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_life_if-the-rocky-ejecta-from-an-impact-hails_3204675.png" --- # If the rocky ejecta from an impact hails from a planet… ![“If the rocky ejecta from an impact hails from a planet with life, then microscopic fauna could have stowed away in the rocks’ nooks and crannies. Third, recent evidence suggests that shortly after the formation of our solar system, Mars was wet, and perhaps fertile, even before Earth was…” quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09f/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_life_if-the-rocky-ejecta-from-an-impact-hails_3204675.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09f/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_life_if-the-rocky-ejecta-from-an-impact-hails_3204675.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/09f/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_life_if-the-rocky-ejecta-from-an-impact-hails_3204675.png) > ““If the rocky ejecta from an impact hails from a planet with life, then microscopic fauna could have stowed away in the rocks’ nooks and crannies. Third, recent evidence suggests that shortly after the formation of our solar system, Mars was wet, and perhaps fertile, even before Earth was. Collectively, these findings tell us it’s conceivable that life began on Mars and later seeded life on Earth, a process known as panspermia. So all Earthlings might—just might—be descendants of Martians.”” [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Evidence suggests life could have originated on Mars and later transferred to Earth, implying humans may descend from Martians. **In simple terms:** Life may have started on Mars and seeded Earth. Key Takeaway Consider extraterrestrial origins. Themes science origins cosmology Mood inquisitive speculative Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - planetary exploration - public education Key Concepts panspermia planetary science astrobiology Questions to Reflect On - What would it mean for humanity if true? - How does this shape our view of Earth’s uniqueness? A Different Perspective Panspermia remains speculative and hard to test directly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mars/) [Solar system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solar-system/) ## Related quotes > [“Collectively, these findings tell us it’s conceivable that life began on Mars and later seeded life on Earth, a process known as panspermia.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/collectively-these-findings-tell-us-it-s-conceivable-that-life-began/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If our solar system is not unusual, then there are so many planets in the universe that, for example, they outnumber the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-our-solar-system-is-not-unusual-then-there-are-so-many-planets-in/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You can send women to the Moon or Mars later. First, provide sanitary pads to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arunachalam-muruganantham/you-can-send-women-to-the-moon-or-mars-later-first-provide-sanitary/) [Arunachalam Muruganantham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arunachalam-muruganantham/) > [In the 1990s I began to study the prospects that life could spread from Mars to Earth or maybe Earth to Mars and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-davies/in-the-1990s-i-began-to-study-the-prospects-that-life-could-spread/) [Paul Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-davies/) > [The bottom line is, like, one in five stars has at least one planet where life might spring up. That's a fantastically large percentage.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-bottom-line-is-like-one-in-five-stars-has-at-least-one-planet/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [I don't think we are the only planet that has life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/i-don-t-think-we-are-the-only-planet-that-has-life/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [“Planet Earth. Our home. Our world. What makes Earth so special? We are the only known planet to have life!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-g-michaels/planet-earth-our-home-our-world-what-makes-earth-so-special-we-are/) Alexander G. Michaels > [If this is the only planet on which not only life, but intelligent life, has arisen, that would be very unusual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/if-this-is-the-only-planet-on-which-not-only-life-but-intelligent/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [The ocean is our planet's life support system, yet in my travels and at home, I've seen its degradation firsthand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-macgillivray/the-ocean-is-our-planet-s-life-support-system-yet-in-my-travels-and/) [Greg MacGillivray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-macgillivray/) > [It drives me crazy to see so much of this planet's life so casually endangered. 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In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-caricature-of-science-is-that-we-hold-tight-to-the-theories-we/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [ They \[scientists of centuries past\] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-on-god-only-from-the-lonely/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/you-can-t-have-people-making-decisions-about-the-future-of-the-world/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Science surrounds you. It's not something that you can step aside, step over or push out of your way because you were never good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/science-surrounds-you-it-s-not-something-that-you-can-step-aside-step/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The idea that God resides in the unknown is what philosophers call the God of the gaps. And we have this thing called science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-idea-that-god-resides-in-the-unknown-is-what-philosophers-call/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Everybody's got money for vacation time. 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By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If the rocky ejecta from an impact hails from a planet with life, then microscopic fauna could have stowed away in the rocks’ nooks and crannies. 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