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Cave snot carves out its home
MSNBC ^ | 12/13/2006 | Jeanna Bryner

Posted on 12/13/2006 5:03:06 PM PST by grjr21

Cave-dwelling bacteria are interior designers of sorts, forming mucus-like chandeliers that hang from cave ceilings and coat the floors with thick mats. Now scientists are finding the tiny critters can also help turn a meager underground residence into an ever-expanding dark palace.

By rappelling into the Frasassi cave system in Italy, for the first time, scientists have revealed clearly the role of cave bacteria in actually forming caves, as reported this week here at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

"We really are able to implicate microorganisms in speeding up cave formation," said Jennifer Macalady of Pennsylvania State University.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs
Did I ever tell you about the time a cave dwelling snotite bit my sister.

Humor aside isn't there a theory that subterranean bactiria makes oil .

1 posted on 12/13/2006 5:03:09 PM PST by grjr21
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To: grjr21

What site am I on?...


2 posted on 12/13/2006 5:12:03 PM PST by 69ConvertibleFirebird (Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.)
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To: 69ConvertibleFirebird
What site am I on?...


This is the conservative site where we discuss subjects like : Teacher paints with his butt !  and the woman who woke up thinking she was French
3 posted on 12/13/2006 5:47:52 PM PST by grjr21
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To: grjr21
Cave snot carves out its home

Enough of the Henry Waxman jokes already!

4 posted on 12/13/2006 6:03:09 PM PST by mikrofon (Well, it *is* politically related...)
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To: blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; ...
These things put the "Bad" in Carlesbad Caverns.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

5 posted on 12/15/2006 12:23:48 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Kudos to the headline writer.

Thanks for another scholarly GGG ping!


6 posted on 12/15/2006 4:39:26 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120))
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To: grjr21
Yup, nonobes, smaller than microbes.

Now, ever time I am in the garden, I keep looking over my sholder.....

7 posted on 12/15/2006 8:09:52 AM PST by ASOC (The phrase "What if" or "If only" are for children.)
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To: grjr21

If you think it's butter, but it's snot....


8 posted on 12/15/2006 8:11:41 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: texas booster

:')


9 posted on 12/15/2006 9:51:54 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: mikrofon

Oh, God, and I was just gonna check the boards before starting lunch....


10 posted on 12/15/2006 10:29:29 AM PST by To Hell With Poverty
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To: grjr21
"Hot subterranean biosphere in a continental oil reservoir":

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v377/n6546/abs/377223a0.html

I'm not sure what it all means but "Hot subterranean biosphere" or "Cave Snot" would be great names for a rock band.

Aren’t bacteria the earliest and most populous life form on earth and perhaps the universe?

I don’t know about bacteria making oil but it lives in it and other seemingly inhospitable environments. I believe a certain type of bacteria “eats” oil and is used to clean up oil spills.

I first encountered cave snot while cleaning my future ex-husband’s apartment. I found its source was the bottom of his refrigerator where I also discovered “furry” peas, liquid lettuce and a solid brick of milk.
11 posted on 12/15/2006 5:00:38 PM PST by Caramelgal (Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead.)
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To: mikrofon

Nice picture of Henry Waxman... also known as "NOSTRILDAMUS"!!


12 posted on 12/15/2006 9:53:15 PM PST by albee (The best thing you can do for the poor is.....not be one of them. - Eric Hoffer)
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