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10,000 year old life forms revived!


seeder

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Naica's crystal caves hold long-dormant life

It is a remarkable discovery in an amazing place.

Scientists have extracted long-dormant microbes from inside the famous giant crystals of the Naica mountain caves in Mexico - and revived them.

The organisms were likely encased in the striking shafts of gypsum at least 10,000 years ago, and possibly up to 50,000 years ago.

It is another demonstration of the ability of life to adapt and cope in the most hostile of environments.

"Other people have made longer-term claims for the antiquity of organisms that were still alive, but in this case these organisms are all very extraordinary - they are not very closely related to anything in the known genetic databases," said Dr Penelope Boston.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39013829

 

 

 

 

Edited by seeder
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I hope the significance of this isn't lost on anyone !!

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2 hours ago, seeder said:

I hope the significance of this isn't lost on anyone !!

Nor that everyone is lost because of this! 

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Perhaps they were encased for a reason and we may soon find out why. Just joking... I think...

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When I see articles like this I am reminded of movies and books that end up with massive amounts of humans dying

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Beautiful, I couldn't think of a more poetic end to mankind.

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Microbes include a lot of harmless single-celled critters that are NOT viruses. Anyway, viruses barely make it into the list of things called "microorganisms" due to not quite being alive.  Millions of microorganisms live in and around us every day and are harmless.  The scientists (probably microbiologists who make it their life's work to know these things) would know what they are reviving.

Edited by e7seif
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3 hours ago, oldrover said:

 I don't get it? 

 

OK lets try it this way....before I posted THAT link,,,,other sources were, as you may expect, spinning the story with the hint of ALIEN microbes, based I suppose on this

Quote

 

"Other people have made longer-term claims for the antiquity of organisms that were still alive, but in this case these organisms are all very extraordinary - they are not very closely related to anything in the known genetic databases," said Dr Penelope Boston.

 

So not only are they not closely related to anything known but they have survived between 10 and 50,000 years in a fairly sealed environment, what a hell of an achievement to revive something after that time span!!

This will of course lend greater hope to the possibility of microbes from another world surviving thousand of years in space rocks, to some, while Im sure scientific minds will be seriously intrigued by something....not closely related to anything we know about so far

 

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1 hour ago, seeder said:

 

OK lets try it this way....before I posted THAT link,,,,other sources were, as you may expect, spinning the story with the hint of ALIEN microbes, based I suppose on this

So not only are they not closely related to anything known but they have survived between 10 and 50,000 years in a fairly sealed environment, what a hell of an achievement to revive something after that time span!!

This will of course lend greater hope to the possibility of microbes from another world surviving thousand of years in space rocks, to some, while Im sure scientific minds will be seriously intrigued by something....not closely related to anything we know about so far

 

Now I get it, those are interesting points which I hadn't considered. Thanks. 

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On February 18, 2017 at 10:18 AM, jarjarbinks said:

Next time, let's revive the Black Plague...

No need, Yersinia pestis, the organism that causes the Black Plague is alive and well in rodent populations in the desert Southwest, and in labs all over the world. Fortunately, if caught early it's treatable with antibiotics, something our ancestors didn't have access to. 

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On 2/19/2017 at 5:34 PM, seeder said:

 

OK lets try it this way....before I posted THAT link,,,,other sources were, as you may expect, spinning the story with the hint of ALIEN microbes, based I suppose on this

So not only are they not closely related to anything known but they have survived between 10 and 50,000 years in a fairly sealed environment, what a hell of an achievement to revive something after that time span!!

This will of course lend greater hope to the possibility of microbes from another world surviving thousand of years in space rocks, to some, while Im sure scientific minds will be seriously intrigued by something....not closely related to anything we know about so far

 

The whole "not closely related" bit is being overblown by pop-sci media. The microbes in question do in fact share much genetic similarity to other extremophile microbes that metabolize inorganic compounds. 

In actuality, theses extremophiles are being found to be so common now that NASA's biggest fear is them accidentally hitching a ride to another planet or moon and contaminating any existing microbial ecosystem that may be there. 

Edited by capeo
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