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Bacteria Found Alive In Ice 120,000 Years Old

Posted by kdawson on from the by-some-definitions-of-alive dept.

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."

7 of 326 comments (clear)

  1. Young earth creationists by genner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Have another reason to point and laugh.

    1. Re:Young earth creationists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're not supposed to believe in science. That's the point; repeatability and maintaining a healthy scepticism.

    2. Re:Young earth creationists by geekoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Newsflash: some people don't believe in science. Get over it."

      I have never seen anyone so succinctly indicated there lack of understanding what science is.

      Newsflash: It doesn't require belief.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Young earth creationists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      About 1/3 of the U.S. public debt?

    4. Re:Young earth creationists by Idiomatick · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well that certainly is convenient. I wonder why the bible has so many specific dates if its not literal. Anyways if you read any book that was filled with non-literal stories why would you believe any of it. Thats the exact same as trusting a known liar. If creation is just a metaphor then so is god, jesus and everything else in the bible. Either believe it all or none of it. I hate pick and choose believers. Too cowardly to abandon an ancient book yet too sensible to believe it.
       
        I'm sure i'll get modded down for bashing the religious folk. Before you do, re-read it and pretend i was talking about a religion you don't like such as satanism or .... wicca.

    5. Re:Young earth creationists by RanCossack · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've yet to hear a proof that there is no God that would not serve equally well to prove there is no DM when used in-character in D&D.

    6. Re:Young earth creationists by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This to me sounds strangely like religion. Somewhere along the line you have to place trust or belief in something. Nothing is empirical when you're trusting an "authority" on a subject.

      The difference is that I can interrogate a scientist and demand his evidence for his beliefs, then draw my own conclusions. When God allows me to interrogate him to prove his existence, then God will be on the same level of trust as scientists.

      --
      Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.