Posted on 02/25/2005 12:57:59 PM PST by aimhigh
A bacterium that sat dormant in a frozen pond in Alaska for 32,000 years has been revived by NASA scientists.
Once scientists thawed the ice, the previously undiscovered bacteria started swimming around on the microscope slide. The researchers say it is the first new species of microbe found alive in ancient ice. Now named Carnobacterium pleistocenium, it is thought to have lived in the Pleistocene epoch, a time when woolly mammoths still roamed the Earth.
NASA astrobiologist Richard Hoover, who led the team, said the find bolsters the case for finding life elsewhere in the universe, particularly given this week's news, broken by New Scientist, of frozen lakes just beneath the surface of equatorial Mars.
..Excerpt..
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
On the other hand we're still playing around with smallpox and other than a few lab workers, there hasn't been a problem. (At least to this point)
Bringing old bugs into modern times is not a good idea. There was an outbreak of anthrax a while back, I think in Russia, after digging in ancient effected soil. England doesn't mess with the ground of known plague cemeteries. (It's theorized that the medieval strain of plague was much more virulent than what exists today.)
If this is being studied with the most modern techniques and equipment, state of the art foolproof security, and half a battalion protecting it then it might be OK. Maybe.
Yeah, Just stay drunk enough to keep crying! Watch "Ole Yeller" for insurance.
... or Captain Tripps!
Heck, all Alaska will probably be set aside as habitat for this little beastie. No Clorox for them.
And no more development for Alaska. The Watermelons will be cheering wildly.
good point. This is indeed very dangerous and I hope they know what they are doing
Great......lysol, clorox, antibiotics, ionic and hepa filters, my HVAC has UV light system to augment my homes air quality and some dickweed is out inventing new and improved hazards to my health.......get a rope !
Andromeda strain?
"Heck, all Alaska will probably be set aside as habitat for this little beastie. No Clorox for them."
... You're probably right.
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Global Warming is gonna getchya! When that pond melts, along with all the other ancient ice...
THAT is what God meant when he said, "It'll be fire, not a flood, next time!"
He was speaking on two levels:
The first being the "fire" of the sun warming and melting all those giant, natural petri dishes filled with their Hell's brew;
The second is the "fire" of the burning fevers ravaging Mankind's disease wracked bodies....
BooooWHAAAAhahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Bringing old bugs into modern times is not a good idea. There was an outbreak of anthrax a while back, I think in Russia, after digging in ancient effected soil.
Anthrax is all over the place and can be a problem for livestock owners, esp. in the western part of the US. Not at all unusual for ranchers to vaccinate for anthrax.
Anthrax Vaccinations Suggested After Increase in Cases(Texas)
I'm not negative about it. We should reanimate more ancient bacilli, re-investigate old plague cemetaries, and play more with engineered disease bacteria. After all, it's science.
link??
I've seen this movie. It doesn't end well. /jk
Actually this could be quite interesting thanks for posting
Doubt it was this as dinosaurs would have been long dead at that point
Hmm... Sounds like an endangered species.
Watch the Donk's try to claim that we can't drill in Alaska because we might disturb the endangered Carnobacterium pleistocenium.
That's right....and those evil conservatives wanted to actually drill in ANWR which is just teeming with endangered species.
Not only that but they are so myopic. They focus on one goal and who knows what they may miss learning. To really learn you need to be very creative about your questions.
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