NASA researchers battle biofilm in space

A small group of scientists on the biofilm mitigation team at NASA's Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama, study solutions to combat fast-growing colonies of bacteria or fungi, known as biofilm, for future space missions.

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet (UV) light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV. It is so named because the spectrum consists of electromagnetic waves with frequencies higher than those that humans identify as the color violet.

UV light is found in sunlight and is emitted by electric arcs and specialized lights such as black lights. As an ionizing radiation it can cause chemical reactions, and causes many substances to glow or fluoresce. Most people are aware of the effects of UV through the painful condition of sunburn, but the UV spectrum has many other effects, both beneficial and damaging, on human health.

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