Deeper Science of Green Slime

Posted by timothy on Wednesday August 28, 2002 @02:26PM from the don't-let-the-kids-eat-too-much dept.

An anonymous reader writes: "As the source of all breathable air, and often-cited as the oldest fossils (3.5 billion years, Western Australia), cyanobacteria or green slime is discussed today in NASA's Astrobiology Magazine. The fascinating parts are the two survival paths that make cyanobacteria ductile, but not fragile (relatively unchanged since the beginning of life on Earth): sharing genes (lateral transfer) to get new capabilities for photosynthesis, and absorbing other cells by engulfment. It is the evolution by engulfment that seems so amazing as a means of species survival, since it is the opposite of parasitism."

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Re:all breathable air by Valdrax · 2002-08-28 17:37 · Score: 4, Informative

If it wasn't for cyanobacteria, we'd still have a primarily methane and carbon dioxide atmosphere. Cyanobacteria can be credited with resposibility for the major atmospheric change that occured around 2.5 billion years ago as the first photosyntheic lifeforms.

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Green slime is for beginners. by zero_offset · 2002-08-28 21:51 · Score: 5, Funny

I was always worried more about the Gelatinous Cubes, oh yeah, and the Grey Ooze...

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