seeder Posted February 18, 2017 #1 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) Quote 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 February 18, 2017 by seeder 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeder Posted February 18, 2017 Author #2 Share Posted February 18, 2017 I hope the significance of this isn't lost on anyone !! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsec Posted February 18, 2017 #3 Share Posted February 18, 2017 2 hours ago, seeder said: I hope the significance of this isn't lost on anyone !! Nor that everyone is lost because of this! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterMan Posted February 18, 2017 #4 Share Posted February 18, 2017 That's right! Lest we forget that mass extinction 10,000 years ago that was caused by Mexican cave microbes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarjarbinks Posted February 18, 2017 #5 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Next time, let's revive the Black Plague... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZDZ Posted February 18, 2017 #6 Share Posted February 18, 2017 3 hours ago, Parsec said: Nor that everyone is lost because of this! Wormwood! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFOwatcher Posted February 18, 2017 #7 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Perhaps they were encased for a reason and we may soon find out why. Just joking... I think... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorybebe Posted February 18, 2017 #8 Share Posted February 18, 2017 When I see articles like this I am reminded of movies and books that end up with massive amounts of humans dying 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taniwha Posted February 19, 2017 #9 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Beautiful, I couldn't think of a more poetic end to mankind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e7seif Posted February 19, 2017 #10 Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) 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 February 19, 2017 by e7seif Partial text got deleted as it posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted February 19, 2017 #11 Share Posted February 19, 2017 On 2/18/2017 at 11:04 AM, seeder said: I hope the significance of this isn't lost on anyone !! I don't get it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeder Posted February 19, 2017 Author #12 Share Posted February 19, 2017 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 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted February 19, 2017 #13 Share Posted February 19, 2017 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted February 20, 2017 #14 Share Posted February 20, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capeo Posted February 23, 2017 #15 Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) 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 February 23, 2017 by capeo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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