Mr. Sulu armed the all phasers!
Posted on 10/21/2011 9:39:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Gigantic amoebas have been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest region on Earth.
During a July 2011 voyage to the Pacific Ocean chasm, researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and National Geographic engineers deployed untethered landers, called dropcams, equipped with digital video and lights to explore the largely mysterious region of the deep sea.
The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches (10 centimeters), their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms.
Extreme environment, extreme creature
The researchers spotted the life forms at depths up to 6.6 miles (10,641 meters) within the Sirena Deep of the Mariana Trench. The previous depth record for xenophyophores was approximately 4.7 miles (7,500 m) in the New Hebrides Trench, although sightings in the deepest portion of the Mariana Trench have been reported.
Scientists say xenophyophores are the largest individual cells in existence. Recent studies indicate that by trapping particles from the water, xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury and are thus likely resistant to large doses of heavy metals. They also are well suited to a life of darkness, low temperature and high pressure in the deep sea.
Scripps ocean engineer Kevin Hardy (right) and marine technician Josh Manger prepare to test Hardy's deep-sea lander at Scripps' Nimitz Marine Facility. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
"The identification of these gigantic cells in one of the deepest marine environments on the planet opens up a whole new habitat for further study of biodiversity, biotechnological potential and extreme environment adaptation," said Doug Bartlett, the Scripps marine microbiologist who organized the expedition.
(Excerpt) Read more at ouramazingplanet.com ...
“The Old Gods?” ping.
;D
“The identification of these gigantic cells in one of the deepest marine environments on the planet opens up a whole new habitat for further study of biodiversity, biotechnological potential and extreme environment adaptation.”
Then I’ll make sure not to try to site a business anywhere near them.
they are just a bunch of happy amoebas.
Maybe they’re simply obese??
Them Xenophyophores ...you get you a mess of ‘em and thems good eatin’!
They call them Giant, but they don’t give us a size? Are they big enough to eat a salmon, or big enough to eat a Destroyer?
Mr. Sulu armed the all phasers!
/johnny
It is one of my wonders why land animals were as big as they were; intuitively it would be assumed larger cells were in affect.
From the Article, they can reach a diameter of up to 4 inches.
Was it dreaming down there?
For “aeons?”
Nanometers to lightyears, I've got a converter to something I can understand.
I did hear that it moves almost one furlong per fortnight.
/johnny
pics or it didn’t happen
The article says ‘exceeding four inches’
Kind of interesting to learn that amoebas communicate with each other and will sacrifice themselves as a group to make a ‘stalk’ so some of the genetics survives when rations become short. When Einstein learned of this, he was astonished.
IIRC, the giant amoeba that ate the Enterprise was 11,000 miles across.
IIRC, the giant amoeba that ate the Enterprise was 11,000 miles across.
IIRC, the giant amoeba that ate the Enterprise was 11,000 miles across.
IIRC, the giant amoeba that ate the Enterprise was 11,000 miles across.
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