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Oh no, a satellite virus! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain

Love that they named it Sputnik because it's a satellite virus.

I don't speak Russian, but the article (and Google Translate) claims that Sputnik is just Russian for "satellite".

I couldn't find out if the word had that meaning before the Sputnik program (besides the original "companion"), or if this is a case of genericization (think how we now say "to Google something").

It existed in 19th century Russian lit.

Parasites of virus... (8^.)

what will be the next form of life?

Sputnik virophage