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Huge hidden biomass lives deep beneath the oceans
NewScientist ^ | 22 May 2008 | Catherine Brahic

Posted on 05/24/2008 5:15:14 PM PDT by LibWhacker

It's the basement apartment like no other. Life has been found 1.6 kilometres beneath the sea floor, at temperatures reaching 100 °C.

The discovery marks the deepest living cells ever to be found beneath the sea floor. Bacteria have been found deeper underneath the continents, but there they are rare. In comparison, the rocks beneath the sea appear to be teeming with life.

John Parkes, a geobiologist at the University of Cardiff, UK, hopes his team's discovery might one day help find life on other planets. He says it might even redefine what we understand as life, and, bizarrely, what we understand by "age".

(Excerpt) Read more at environment.newscientist.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: aging; beneath; biomass; crevo; cryptobiology; environment; godsgravesglyphs; marinebiology; oceans; prokaryotes
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1 posted on 05/24/2008 5:15:15 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Yes, but do they poop oil?


2 posted on 05/24/2008 5:16:59 PM PDT by patton (cuiquam in sua arte credendum)
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To: LibWhacker

CLUE: BACTERIA!! Buyer beware!!


3 posted on 05/24/2008 5:18:19 PM PDT by Sacajaweau ("The Cracker" will be renamed "The Crapper")
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To: LibWhacker

Uh oh.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horta_(Star_Trek)


4 posted on 05/24/2008 5:19:16 PM PDT by neodad (USS Vincennes (CG 49) "Checkmate Cruiser")
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To: LibWhacker

God, that interesting.


5 posted on 05/24/2008 5:21:20 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: LibWhacker

Great! New menu items for Seafood Night at the club.


6 posted on 05/24/2008 5:22:21 PM PDT by BlueStateBlues (Blue State for business, Red State at heart..)
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To: neodad

I keep coming up with Horta hears a Who. What’s up with that?


7 posted on 05/24/2008 5:25:22 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Yes I backed over the vampire but I swear I didn't see it in my rearview mirror.)
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To: LibWhacker
Cool. I've always wondered whether things like viruses were actually "alive" or not, considering that they don't actually consist of cells like almost all other "life". Perhaps this discovery may shed some light on these kind of questions.

Also, I predict less than 1 week before the first article appears claiming this biomass is threatened by, you guessed it, global warming.

8 posted on 05/24/2008 5:28:51 PM PDT by TheWasteLand
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To: patton

“Yes, but do they poop oil?”

No, but they finally found the source of global warming.


9 posted on 05/24/2008 5:33:28 PM PDT by 353FMG (What marxism and fascism could not destroy, liberalism did.)
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To: patton
Yes, but do they poop oil?

More likely they ooze feeeelings and suck penumbral rights.

10 posted on 05/24/2008 5:39:50 PM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast ( Uh...fight SCD. Schwa Collapse Disorder is spreading. Save the a word. Just say uh.)
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To: LibWhacker

Something tells me they are going to use this discovery to try and ban all ocean oil exploration worldwide.


11 posted on 05/24/2008 5:40:36 PM PDT by montag813
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To: patton

There are still a lot of questions about where so much oil really came from. The moon of Saturn, Titan, has more hydrocarbons than all the oil and natural gas on Earth. There are literally lakes of the stuff.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080213-titan-oil.html


12 posted on 05/24/2008 5:42:36 PM PDT by Maelstorm (The Clintons should not be underestimated in their ability to get Republicans elected.)
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MMmmm! Slusho!
13 posted on 05/24/2008 5:46:18 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Satisfaction was my sin)
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To: TheWasteLand
An entire week? I wish I could be that opimistic.


14 posted on 05/24/2008 5:46:27 PM PDT by Viking2002 (Paul Krugman: Conscience Of A Crapweasel. (For lack of a better tagline at the moment.)
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To: LibWhacker

Yep, and global warming is destroying this habitat. 30 minutes ago, when it was discovered, it was thriving but now it has degenerated. If we don’t act soon it will be destroyed!


15 posted on 05/24/2008 5:54:29 PM PDT by saganite
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To: TheWasteLand

Viruses are everywhere. There are 10-100 million of them in a teaspoon of Seawater. We inhale them, eat them, and really are in a constant bath of them and bacteria ever day of our lives.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_1_108/ai_53682809

It has been found that viruses play a huge role in mutation (evolution) of bacteria.

“Coevolution with viruses drives the evolution of bacterial mutation rates”
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v450/n7172/abs/nature06350.html


16 posted on 05/24/2008 5:55:43 PM PDT by Maelstorm (The Clintons should not be underestimated in their ability to get Republicans elected.)
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To: LibWhacker
Bacteria have been found deeper underneath the continents

Oh, good. Let's dig that up!

17 posted on 05/24/2008 5:57:57 PM PDT by bannie (clintons CHEAT! It's their only weapon.; & Barry/Barack has two faces.)
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To: LibWhacker

Can’t be. We already know that if the temperature goes up another several degrees, all life will perish.


18 posted on 05/24/2008 6:17:55 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: BlueStateBlues

Given the overfishing, that may come true.


19 posted on 05/24/2008 6:44:15 PM PDT by tbw2 ("Sirat: Through the Fires of Hell" by Tamara Wilhite - on amazon.com)
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To: LibWhacker

Isn’t this where Mulder and Scully make their entrance?


20 posted on 05/24/2008 7:04:10 PM PDT by MadJack ("Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." (Afghan proverb))
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