Bacteria Found Alive In Ice 120,000 Years Old

FiReaNGeL notes research presented this morning at Penn State on the discovery of a new, ultra-small species of bacteria that has survived for more than 120,000 years within the ice of a Greenland glacier at a depth of nearly two miles. From the psu.edu announcement: "The microorganism's ability to persist in this low-temperature, high-pressure, reduced-oxygen, and nutrient-poor habitat makes it particularly useful for studying how life, in general, can survive in a variety of extreme environments on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the solar system. This new species is among the ubiquitous, yet mysterious, ultra-small bacteria, which are so tiny that they are able to pass through microbiological filters. Called Chryseobacterium greenlandensis, the species is related genetically to certain bacteria found in fish, marine mud, and the roots of some plants."

Comments

Alternate Link With Electron MIcroscopic Image

[__aanonl8035]

Same exact text, but with a picture, from physorg.

http://www.physorg.com/news131712233.html

Re:Alternate Link With Electron MIcroscopic Image

[FiReaNGeL]

Actually the link I submitted was http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/06/03/a.survivor.greenland.a.novel.bacterial.species.found.trapped.120000.year.old.ice

which has 3 pictures. For some reason the editor changed it.

Re:Young earth creationists

[rhombic]

FYI it's a very tiny number of believers that think the creation is literal.

The Gallup poll says otherwise. Average of '05, '06, & '07 polls indicated 31% of Americans believed that the bible is the "Actual word of God, to be taken literaly".

~100,000,000 people is not a very tiny number.

Re:120,000 Years Old ??

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm guessing carbon dating..

Re:120,000 Years Old ??

[geekoid]

"Cut one in half and count the rings ??" in a manner.
Depth of ice,number of layers and maybe radiological testing.

Re:Young earth creationists

[thealsir]

You'd be right. http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=167