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Iron-Eating Bug Is Gobbling Up the Titanic

Posted by kdawson on from the give-'em-a-little-arsenic-and-look-what-happens dept.

gambit3 writes "A newly discovered microbe dubbed Halomonas titanicae is chewing its way through the wreck of the Titanic and leaving little behind except a fine dust, researchers report in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 'In 1995, I was predicting that Titanic had another 30 years,' said Henrietta Mann, a civil engineering adjunct professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 'It's deteriorating much faster than that now.'"

221 comments

  1. It's the Only Way to Be Sure by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I say we surface and nuke the entire site from sea level. It's the only way to be sure those bugs don't attack our buildings and transportation. If they make it out of there, it'll be 9/11 times a hundred.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't be overly worried. The conditions there (dark cold high-pressure underwater with low oxygen and a limited set of competition) are fairly different from up here - and the measures we use to protect structural iron would probably be decent at keeping them at bay ... so to speak.

    2. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by somersault · · Score: 2

      the measures we use to protect structural iron would probably be decent at keeping them at bay ... so to speak.

      But what happens when the paint peels off? :0

      --
      which is totally what she said
    3. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I say we surface and nuke the entire site from sea level. It's the only way to be sure those bugs don't attack our buildings and transportation. If they make it out of there, it'll be 9/11 times a hundred.

      If you do that, these bugs could mutate and become gigantic and develop legs, They will then walk up onto land and start eating every iron based thing they see. Bridges, buildings, cars, trucks, ....it'll be 9/11 times a million!

    4. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by o'reor · · Score: 3, Funny

      You're right, especially after 2012 when all your buildings and transportation will be below sea level.

      --
      In Soviet Russia, our new overlords are belong to all your base.
    5. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by jewens · · Score: 2

      Why that's nearly 892!

      --
      That group of bovine standing over there appears quite portentous. That's right it's an ominous cow herd.
    6. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Maggie Thatcher look out!

    7. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by mysidia · · Score: 1

      But what happens when the paint peels off? :0

      We shouldn't worry about that; that will be our great great great grandchildren's problem.

      It'll be an excuse to replace all structural iron with other more expensive building components in new construction, and rebuild all existing buildings.

      Great economic stimulus and all that

    8. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't be overly worried. The conditions there (dark cold high-pressure underwater with low oxygen and a limited set of competition) are fairly different from up here - and the measures we use to protect structural iron would probably be decent at keeping them at bay ... so to speak.

      OK, great. Now, how do we keep Bay away from the movie about it?

    9. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by imakemusic · · Score: 1

      You mean nearly 82?

      --
      Brain surgery - it's not rocket science!
    10. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by sudden.zero · · Score: 1

      No,no,no, silly all we need to do is bring in the "sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads" and they will take care of those dirty pests once and for all!

    11. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      So there will be 81.81 of them?

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    12. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by jewens · · Score: 1

      Doh!

      Math-geek FAIL!

      --
      That group of bovine standing over there appears quite portentous. That's right it's an ominous cow herd.
    13. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Besides the fact that you're referring to the broken window fallacy, the only way to replace structural iron in an existing building is to demolish the building.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    14. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I say we surface and nuke the entire site from sea level. It's the only way to be sure those bugs don't attack our buildings and transportation. If they make it out of there, it'll be 9/11 times a hundred.

      Game over, man! Game over!

    15. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by kg8484 · · Score: 1
      Reread the original comment. Besides the fact that GP was joking, it already addresses your second point.

      It'll be an excuse to replace all structural iron with other more expensive building components in new construction, and rebuild all existing buildings.

    16. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      it'll be 9/11 times a hundred.

      What? 900/11 ? That is 81.81818181818181818181818...

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    17. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by interval1066 · · Score: 0

      I for one welcome our iron-eating microbial overlords.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    18. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Alien+Being · · Score: 1

      900/11? OMG!

    19. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by jgagnon · · Score: 1

      I vote we send in the Viking Kittens.

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    20. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by camperslo · · Score: 1

      Can these bugs be re-engineered to eat patent trolls?

      Just trying to see the good in everything...

    21. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by mysidia · · Score: 2

      Besides the fact that you're referring to the broken window fallacy

      Broken window "fallacy" is only shown to be a fallacy; in an economy that is already productive, and resources are not being left idle.

      In economies that would need stimulus, resources are being left idle, because there's nothing to invest in, other than commodities.

      In that case, there is a glut in resources, that needs to be diminished, for example, by committing resources to a huge project.

      Once excessive resources are burned off, demand for products and services will increase again with respect to supply, driving further growth

    22. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't we just get that goo that they spread on the Galactica to repair it when they found cracks in the hull? The bonus is that we can put a hot tub in the basement from which someone can run the whole building.

    23. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      The martiaforming of Earth is continuing according to schedule.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    24. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

      Somebody can't tell sarcasm when he reads it.

      Of course he was referring to the broken window fallacy.

      Duh.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    25. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 0

      Keep telling yourself that.

      If you repeat it often enough, maybe someday it will come true!

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    26. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by mysidia · · Score: 1

      If you repeat it often enough, maybe someday it will come true!

      History has already proven, based on the US past, and the effect of "war costs" on the economy, that it was true; for example World War II brought the US out of depression, if not for that, the recession condition would have lasted well into the 21st century.

    27. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You're assuming that the bacterium needs those conditions and is a one trick pony whose survival is dependent on having a rotting ocean liner handy.

      This is *probably* not something that is going to become any kind of threat to the future of technological civilization. In fact I'd go out on a limb and say that it's virtually certain to be nothing to worry about. But one thing to keep in mind about biology is its propensity for having surprising and mind-numbingly complex tricks up its sleeve.

      Over the years I've worked a bit on the fringes of the field of zoonotic disease surveilance -- that is to say diseases that hop from animal populations into humans. In many cases what we think of as human diseases, things like like influenza, yellow fever or encephalitis, are primarily diseases of animal populations. The human infections are a kind of sideline for the infectious agent, kind of like a carpenter who makes his living building houses but also has a side business selling unfinished furniture.

      If I were studying this thing, one of the things I would certainly look at is how adaptable it is. Apart from the shear scientific interest of the question, if any practical concern were unearthed that would surely be a good source of additional funding. The one thing scientists can *always* agree upon: more study is needed.

      Can you imagine such a thing developed into kind of biological warfare agent? It might not destroy the enemy's marine infrastructure overnight, but a few years down the line he might find maintaining that infrastructure unexpectedly costly.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    28. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by blair1q · · Score: 1

      So we put it in a room with the broken-window theory and let them fight it out.

    29. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      World War II brought the US out of depression, if not for that, the recession condition would have lasted well into the 21st century.

      I don't think so. Yes, WWII pulled us out of the depression, and quickly, but I think by the '50s the economy would have been doing well had WWII not happened. The Korean War didn't stop the recession in the '50s from happening, and absense of war didn't stop the economy from booming in the early '60s.

      And there was a very bad depression shortly after the Civil War. History calls the 1920s the "Roaring Tenties", and you may credit WWI for that, but my grandmother, who was in her twenties during that decade, said it only roared for the rich -- everyone else had it pretty bad, especially farmers (and the US was still very agrarian then).

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    30. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      You spray new paint on it?

    31. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      No, the bonus is that we get a whole bunch of hot-looking babes running around.

    32. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Over the years I've worked a bit on the fringes of the field of zoonotic disease surveilance -- that is to say diseases that hop from animal populations into humans. In many cases what we think of as human diseases, things like like influenza, yellow fever or encephalitis, are primarily diseases of animal populations. The human infections are a kind of sideline for the infectious agent, kind of like a carpenter who makes his living building houses but also has a side business selling unfinished furniture.

      You talk like humans are not animals. Humans are just another species of animal, like any other. A disease hopping from an animal to a human is no more remarkable than a disease hopping from one animal to another animal, like a cat to a dog.

      And your analogy is ridiculous: houses and unfinished furniture? A better analogy is a carpenter who makes his living building houses, but has a side business building bigger houses.

    33. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Off the top of my head, I can think of at least one place where I often find a whole bunch of hot-looking babes running around. It's called outside. And if you start running and treating them with a whole lot more respect than your post indicates, they might even talk to you! If you run enough and respect them enough (Hint... putting women up on a pedestal isn't respecting them) one of those hot-looking babes might end up being an intelligent and witty woman who actually enjoys your company!

    34. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by shawb · · Score: 1

      Maybe James Cameron would be a good idea. Considering his interest in underwater exploration, I'm surprised he hasn't done a film about the Titanic yet. I doubt Cameron would do anything as annoying as turn the event into a tragic love story like Bay did with Pearl Harbor.

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
    35. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      You sound like someone who doesn't live in the USA. Around here, most the women look like whales.

      BTW, I'm married. I just like to look at other hot-looking babes, especially if they're all clones of Tricia Helfer and Lucy Lawless. And my wife wouldn't find anything disrespectful about my post, she'd think it was funny, apparently unlike freaks on Slashdot.

    36. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by NFN_NLN · · Score: 1

      If you repeat it often enough, maybe someday it will come true!

      History has already proven, based on the US past, and the effect of "war costs" on the economy, that it was true; for example World War II brought the US out of depression, if not for that, the recession condition would have lasted well into the 21st century.

      In this case the US, with its factories in tact, was the window maker AND the rest of Europe, with a bombed out infrastructure, was the broken window.

      Sure the US came out ahead on this... it was at the expense of Europe. There was huge demand to rebuild Europe and no factories to do it. However, on the whole the world economy was set back.

    37. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 1

      Remember humans and other animals have iron in their blood.

      This sounds like a plot for a sci-fi movie. Giant microbes that feed on iron. Any kind of iron will do.

    38. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by hey! · · Score: 1

      Of course humans are taxonomically animals. However from our own point of view we are rather exceptional.

      As for the carpenter making furniture being ridiculous, are you claiming that carpenters are somehow *unable* to do woodworking? I suppose that means you've never heard of Norm Abram. Woodworking is a different skill from carpentry, but if it *wasn't* there wouldn't be much point to the analogy, would there?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    39. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      As for the carpenter making furniture being ridiculous, are you claiming that carpenters are somehow *unable* to do woodworking?

      Absolutely not. I'm claiming that there's a much bigger difference between house framing-type carpentry and furniture-making than there is between a human and a cat. That's why I corrected your analogy to that of a builder building two types of houses.

      Now, maybe if you had evidence that some diseases had jumped between very very disparate animals, say, humans and ants, then your analogy would make sense. But animal diseases always come from more closely-related animals, usually other mammals, especially monkeys (which are so close to humans the differences are minimal) and sometimes birds (which are also warm-blooded).

      However from our own point of view we are rather exceptional.

      I'm sure the ants think that of themselves too. We're not exceptional, we're just a bunch of dumb monkeys who have grown larger brains so we can have written language and more advanced technology (than just using sticks to get ants out of anthills), but still can't manage ourselves very well, and unlike all other animals, are prone to extremely sick and twisted acts of violence. (You don't see other animals becoming serial killers.)

      BTW, Norm Abram isn't a very good woodworker; he's good at getting deals with woodworking machine makers (namely Delta) so he can use all their latest high-end machines, which most home woodworkers don't have the luxury of. I never see any advanced joinery, for instance, on his show, it's all air-powered brads and such. He does seem like like mortise-and-tenon joints now that he has a mortising machine, but I've certainly never seen him cut out a mortise by hand with a chisel. If you want to see a really talented TV woodworker, check out Roy Underhill.

    40. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by shawb · · Score: 1

      One of the assumptions is safe: low oxygen environment. This bacterium does not "eat" metallic iron, but reduces dissolved iron oxide which requires a reducing (I.E. anaerobic) environment. How the existing iron structure turns into iron oxide is another question. My brief poking around on the internet (I'm not going to call it research) seems to indicate that these bacteria live in conjunction with many other bacteria and fungi in an associated called a rusticle which only seems to form on wrought iron. Modern steel should not be affected by this particular association, and chances are anything exposed to open seawater probably would be naturally exposed to all of the component organisms needed. Weaponizing this phenomenon would probably end up being more like developing some sort of fertilizing agent that hastens the colonization and growth rate of the appropriate colonies of organisms and would likely either be so bulky as to be noticed during routine maintenance, or require multiple reapplications which would increase the likelihood of being discovered. I really don't foresee this being more effective than traditional sabotage methods.

      Researching this phenomenon is probably far more likely to give us a more thorough understanding of oxidation and improvements in the rust resistance of steel.

      Who knows... the whole thing seems to be speculation at this point. After a bit of digging I think I found the paper that is being referenced here. It looks like they isolated some organism and figured out its taxonomy using molecular techniques and very little research on the bacteria's actual metabolism. For all I know this particular bacteria could be simply feeding on those that are doing the actual oxidation and reduction. It looks like I'd be able to learn a bit more on the topic of bacterial mediated corrosion from this document. Maybe I'll have that digested by the time this article comes up as a dupe.

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
    41. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Aardpig · · Score: 1

      Did anyone apart from me actually get the reference?

      --
      Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
    42. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      81.8181....?

    43. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well I for one welcome our Iron-eating microbial overlords!!!

    44. Re:It's the Only Way to Be Sure by bdabautcb · · Score: 0

      i love 9/11 jokes, but that was just a a bad titanic/fe microbe joke. you should be modded down for bad joke. I know it won't happen, because my commentary is so late, but really, a joke about the iron bugs when all we really need to worry about is the the uranium and plutonium left on this planet.

      --
      Koalas. They're telepathic. Plus, they control the weather. -Margaret
  2. Wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Wasn't there a start trek episode about this?

    1. Re:Wait by DigitalSorceress · · Score: 1

      Actually, I was thinking about "Copernick's Rebellion" http://www.amazon.com/Copernicks-Rebellion-Leo-Frankowski/dp/0345340337

      Good book... I might just put that on the "re-read this" pile.

      --

      The Digital Sorceress
    2. Re:Wait by Vernes · · Score: 1

      Something about that twat Wesley Crusher accidentally creating a sentient race of nano-robots, eating the ships computer.

      Wesley Crusher.
      "The boy that accidentally a whole sentient."

  3. Nom. by bchickens · · Score: 1

    nom nom nom. Sounds like they could be a new weapon of mass destruction!

    --
    ~Bchickens
    1. Re:Nom. by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      Yeah. Screw Stuxnet, we need to get some of these into Iran, pronto.

    2. Re:Nom. by Gravitron+5000 · · Score: 1

      Silly politicians and their rhetoric. Are they not familiar with the law of conservation of mass?

    3. Re:Nom. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      Silly politicians and their rhetoric. Are they not familiar with the law of conservation of mass?

      From the WP article:

      In special relativity, the conservation of mass does not apply if the system is open and energy escapes.

      You see, the politicians are just up to date.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  4. I, for one, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new metal-devouring overlords.

    1. Re:I, for one, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm willing to use whatever it takes, to stop Magneto.

  5. No more sailing... by khr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, it's not like it was going to sail again... So, it's the natural order of things, no great loss...

    1. Re:No more sailing... by Stele · · Score: 5, Funny

      Especially since it didn't have any sails to begin with.

    2. Re:No more sailing... by sshirley · · Score: 1

      Plus the last of the survivors are almost gone. So it won't be in living memory anymore. Sad event, but just another shipwreck.

    3. Re:No more sailing... by entotre · · Score: 2

      David Cameron will soon re-release the movie Titanic in 3D. Thus making the physical version of the ship redundant.

    4. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why would the Prime Minister of Britain be (re)releasing a movie?

    5. Re:No more sailing... by elrous0 · · Score: 2

      Last one died last year. I suspect the bug got to her.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    6. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, besides, nowadays when anyone says Titanic, everyone thinks about the movie, not the ship.

    7. Re:No more sailing... by entotre · · Score: 1

      James Cameron, then

    8. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Obviously entotre meant Kirk Cameron.

    9. Re:No more sailing... by nschubach · · Score: 1

      I have this growing... pain in my head right now.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    10. Re:No more sailing... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      That's what the Conservative party does.

      --
      Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
    11. Re:No more sailing... by hosecoat · · Score: 1

      it will never sail, no one buyer wants a boat with rustbugs

    12. Re:No more sailing... by ocdscouter · · Score: 1

      Yes, Prime Minister.

    13. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it a tumah?

    14. Re:No more sailing... by Sockatume · · Score: 1

      I am so glad I am not the only person making this mistake these days.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
    15. Re:No more sailing... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2

      Yeah, besides, nowadays when anyone says Titanic, everyone thinks about the movie, not the ship.

      Obviously I don't exist, because otherwise I would have to be included in "everyone" ... but then, you would have guessed it from my user name anyway. :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    16. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Psychological warfare?

      "Listen up, Kim Jong-il. Cease hostilities at once, or we'll make you watch Titanic. The directors cut. The extended directors cut."

    17. Re:No more sailing... by The+Great+Pretender · · Score: 1

      Natural attenuation

      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
    18. Re:No more sailing... by sharkey · · Score: 1

      That probably means that someone, somewhere is enjoying their life right now, committing extremely minor sins in the process.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    19. Re:No more sailing... by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      Diaz?

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    20. Re:No more sailing... by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 1

      Especially since it didn't have any sails to begin with.

      No wonder it sank.

      --
      You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
    21. Re:No more sailing... by ArbitraryDescriptor · · Score: 1

      In this version, the Titanic is kept afloat by prayer.

    22. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have this growing... pain in my head right now.

      Don't worry. It was designed that way, and won't evolve into anything worse.

    23. Re:No more sailing... by m50d · · Score: 1

      It's the Big Society in action.

      --
      I am trolling
    24. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Especially since it didn't have any sails to begin with.

      That is takig a narrow view of the word sail.... So much for sailing to the moon.

    25. Re:No more sailing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would the Prime Minister of Britain be (re)releasing a movie?

      It's a metaphor for his time as PM. In this release, the iceberg has "Tuition Fees" painted on the side.

  6. Afterlife refuge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ever since I saw the movie as a teenager, I have looked forward to the day that I die and become a ghost, so that I may travel down to the wreckage and meditate amid the sadness of loss and the elegance of a finer age. Reading this I am completely lost. I have always believed that no ability to move through time comes with the afterlife, as otherwise ghosts from the future would have already influenced the present (however rare ghost-to-man interactions may be).

    Tell me why can this microbe exist to destroy?

    1. Re:Afterlife refuge by NevarMore · · Score: 2

      I have mod points and I'm not sure whether to go +1 Insightful, -1 Troll, +1 Effort, -1 Psychobabble, or -1 Emo.

      Instead I just won't post anonymously and ponder why Slashdots "no posting and modding the same thread" rule exists only to destroy the contributions I could have made to this discussion.

    2. Re:Afterlife refuge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      easy solution, kill yourself and become a ghost while its still there

    3. Re:Afterlife refuge by circletimessquare · · Score: 2

      i haven't looked forward to that day

      mainly because i don't want to listen to celine dion in the afterlife

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    4. Re:Afterlife refuge by maxume · · Score: 0

      Mod points aren't worth much. Someone will come along and mod most threads. So the idea is that you shouldn't get to influence the display of threads that you choose to participate in.

      I guess you must think that scoring a few comments is an extremely valuable contribution or it wouldn't bother you to post a comment. Really, I think scoring a few comments is merely useful.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    5. Re:Afterlife refuge by camperdave · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >

      Instead I just won't post anonymously and ponder why Slashdots "no posting and modding the same thread" rule exists only to destroy the contributions I could have made to this discussion.

      That's the primary reason I gave up moderating. I only read the stories that are of interest to me, modding along the way. Invariably I'd run across a post that I'd want to comment upon, and voila, a dilemma: Hold back my comment and leave the mod points in play, or comment on a posting and wipe out all of the mod points.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    6. Re:Afterlife refuge by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Use your mod points in a different discussion.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    7. Re:Afterlife refuge by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 0

      Use mod points on stories that interest you, but you are not likely to be a poster. Listen more than you talk. Read more than you write. You will have ample opportunities to use your mod points to improve the threads where you are not contributing. And other mods will raise your invaluable comments on the threads you do post. Or lower it if it is not as great as you think it is. Fair is fair.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    8. Re:Afterlife refuge by multipartmixed · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Just moderate and post at will.

      When smart people like us moderate, the sheeple moderators just copy what we're doing.

      So, as long as a few minutes pass between our moderation and our discussion, our moderation *does* in fact have an effect -- it's just not a direct effect.

      --

      Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
    9. Re:Afterlife refuge by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Ah! Crowdsourcing. Got it!

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    10. Re:Afterlife refuge by geekoid · · Score: 1

      The depends, is your post really going to add more to the conversation then the post you modded up?

      And of course, you can get another /. account to use for when you regualr account has modding privileges. Assuming you think your post on /. will actually be worth the effort.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    11. Re:Afterlife refuge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see the point of this rule either. The only valid reason would be to reduce the chance of someone modding themselves up, or modding a dissenter to one of their posts down. However, in practice:

      1. The same thing can be done using "ghost" accounts for the truly motivated
      2. In my experience, posts which are "unfairly" modded up/down are rare, or at least, exhibit a number of mods in the opposite direction as well...by modding a post up significantly, you increase the exposure to other mods, which in the aggregate will mod it to the "correct" position. Basically, the law of large numbers applies.

    12. Re:Afterlife refuge by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Because it's not a ghost.

    13. Re:Afterlife refuge by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      Because God is jealous, cruel and vengeful!

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    14. Re:Afterlife refuge by gknoy · · Score: 1

      I tend to blow all of my moderation points on one or two threads, and then sit back and read more. I also rarely have things worth posting as contributing, but generally I take moderating as a Duty that I should participate in, and thus am willing to sacrifice my potentially good writing for the sake of making sure others get modded up. I usually end up modding up posts which I find either interesting, or are written-better-than-I-would-have.

      There are probably about five times a year when I am willing to cancel my mods to write something. Perhaps a third of those are postings to undo mis-clicks on moderation in the new system. I have roughly a similar number of times that I post something, and then regret not being able to mod something in a thread... probably because I read a lot more before I'm willing to comment.

  7. Other sunken ships by Senes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What about surveying sites like the battle of Midway for bugs like this? It could probably yield some very interesting information.

    1. Re:Other sunken ships by sqldr · · Score: 1

      what, that bugs eat japanese ships too?

      --
      I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.
    2. Re:Other sunken ships by Rockoon · · Score: 0

      I doubt that this iron eating bug will find much food in a WWII graveyard of Japanese ships, although termites might have a field day if the sea level ever dropped low enough...

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    3. Re:Other sunken ships by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      No need for dropping sea levels, the shipworms will take care of undersea wood.
      Not that they would find much food in WWII ships ... :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    4. Re:Other sunken ships by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would say this is the oldest deepest wreck available to study, and wouldn't fit the same profile as most other wrecks. I don't know about depth at midway, but the waters there are warmer, and the wrecks are closer to land so are unlikely to yield the same effects.

      Also, its illegal to interfere with wargraves, which all sunken warships are. Perfectly acceptable to mess about on a civilian liner though...

    5. Re:Other sunken ships by Dabido · · Score: 1
      Great idea.

      Midway might be difficult. They have the location of the USS Yorktown but none of the Japanese ships (except a piece of the Kaga's hangar deck - in very deep water I believe). So only two ships can be tested there.

      There are plenty of other sunken ships made of metal though. Bikini Atoll would be a remarkable place to check, the water temperature is warmer there, but people can still dive on the wrecks. Does the bug only exist in cold temperatures or does it live in the warm tropical temperatures as well?

      If is is present on all metal wrecks, can it be used to test water for the possible presence of undetected wrecks? Maybe find the rest of the sunken Japanese Midway fleet (if it hasn't been eaten away yet)???

      --
      Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
  8. What will they eat... by snookerhog · · Score: 3, Interesting

    when they run out of titanic? These things did not evolve to just eat the titanic. What is their usual diet other than shipwrecks?

    1. Re:What will they eat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it may be ship wrecks and other lost under sea iron that they have evolved to eat. Bacteria can hibernate or form spores that last long ass periods, centuries isn't unheard of. This bacteria could float around the ocean waiting to land on some iron for years. Considering that quadrillions of bacteria will probably come from the titanic; only one would have to a found new home to start the process all over again. I don't think the bacteria will have any trouble with a their high iron diet. (obviously they still need carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, etc)

    2. Re:What will they eat... by kae_verens · · Score: 4, Interesting

      it's possible that they /did/ evolve just to eat the titanic. Maybe there were some microbes that ate some other iron-filled delicacy, and happened across this gluttonous feast. over the next thousands/millions of generations, the microbes then evolved to specifically eat the titanic - I mean, why bother struggling to find food elsewhere when you're right at the feast table?

      and what happens when the titanic is gone? they die. maybe a few will survive, but any that have specialised to eat the hull will most likely not be able to eat anything else.

    3. Re:What will they eat... by bigtone78 · · Score: 1

      pirate treasure chests?!?!?!?

    4. Re:What will they eat... by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      Iron?

    5. Re:What will they eat... by BobMcD · · Score: 1

      when they run out of titanic? These things did not evolve to just eat the titanic. What is their usual diet other than shipwrecks?

      We humans are odd creatures. We assume that once we've taken a thing and crafted it into another shape of thing that it no longer existed in nature. While this is rarely true with completely synthetic things, big metal ships do not fall into this category. Yes, the Titanic was in a shape that was more useful to us, however it was made entirely of material from this planet. And I'd think if the material exists on this planet, a creature that eats same is quite likely to exist as well.

      So, to answer the question: They likely eat exposed metal deposits on the ocean floor.

      Also we should reflect on the BP situation in the gulf. There was a lot of a naturally occurring substance released into the water there, too. And what happened? A microbe appeared to eat it. It may well have been a better idea to avoid spraying it with chemicals so those microbes would have an easier time eating it.

      And yesterday we had a story via NASA on CO2 causing plants to thrive. Again, CO2 is a naturally-occurring substance, so it seems entirely natural to me that something in nature would eat it, too.

      I'm not saying that the same is true of every substance, e.g. styrofoam, nuclear waste, etc. But it certainly seems to be true a LOT more often than we humans seem to be able to grasp.

    6. Re:What will they eat... by khr · · Score: 1

      And that is one truly titanic feast table for a microbe...

    7. Re:What will they eat... by proslack · · Score: 2

      Iron is a limiting nutrient. If you add iron to seawater, all other things being equal (e.g. phosphate), you will probably enable more "stuff" to live in that region, cf. "Importance of iron for plankton blooms and carbon dioxide drawdown in the Southern Ocean HJW De Baar, JTM de Jong, DCE Bakker - 1995 - nature.com"

      --


      Floating in the black seas of infinity without a paddle.
    8. Re:What will they eat... by neophytepwner · · Score: 1

      There is plenty of Magnetite at the ocean floor in the Atlantic, these bacteria have been around for millions of years.

    9. Re:What will they eat... by snookerhog · · Score: 1
      This was exactly my point. These critters did not magically appear on the titanic. They just happened to show up where we are already looking.

      More importantly, I think this underscores once again the fact that there are multitudes of life forms under the sea that remain undiscovered yet we keep blasting all the big bucks into cold dark space.

    10. Re:What will they eat... by Alien+Being · · Score: 1

      God himself could not starve these microbes.

    11. Re:What will they eat... by BobMcD · · Score: 1

      Double true.

    12. Re:What will they eat... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      They likely eat exposed metal deposits on the ocean floor.

      Are there any deposits of iron (as opposed to ore) in the ocean (or anywhere else on the planet) which are not of human origin?

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    13. Re:What will they eat... by BobMcD · · Score: 1

      Are there any deposits of iron (as opposed to ore) in the ocean (or anywhere else on the planet) which are not of human origin?

      Why 'as opposed to' it? We are able to eat food in multiple forms, so why not microbes?

    14. Re:What will they eat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eat is perhaps not the right word here. Bacteria and archaea (and all other living organisms except viruses) exploit energy gradients in their surrounding materials to live, in a process known as respiration. Respiration at its heart is moving an electron from a more electrochemically reduced material to a more electrochemically oxidized material, and doing work with the electrons along the way. Animals 'burn' reduced carbon food (for example, sugar) using oxygen as an electron sink and producing water and CO2. Bacteria and other microbes are able to do this using a variety of other materials including certain metals, and even just organic mud (often producing methane or hydrogen). In this case the identified species is taking electrons from Fe(0) (iron) and producing Fe(+2) or Fe(+3), which combines with oxygen in the water to produce rust (various Fe2O3 forms).

    15. Re:What will they eat... by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Please, someone tell me this won't threaten the band Iron Maiden. I really need those guys.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    16. Re:What will they eat... by ebuck · · Score: 1

      The only problem with letting our plants take care of CO2 (as they would naturally do) is that we're cutting them down faster than they grow. The biggest CO2 eaters are the very large established trees. Trees do not gain most of their materials from the ground, over 90% of a tree is comprised of carbon captured from CO2. However, every year our forests diminish because wood is such an easy crop for the picking.

      Marshlands also consume a lot of CO2, except that they are so easy to fill in and convert to residential suburbs. Over 90% of the population lives under ten miles to a major body of water, so marshlands are becoming endangered, as they tend to be attached to major bodies of water.

      Plastics are quite different. We specifically engineer our plastic to not be degradable, as the degradable plastics don't last very long. Casin is still available, but who wants a plastic which will start to degrade minutes after it was manufactured?

    17. Re:What will they eat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like a great tagline for Titanic 2!

    18. Re:What will they eat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, there is plenty of iron in deep sea sediments (muds). Plenty of bacteria 'eat' iron - it's just generally not used in the sediment until oxygen (and manganese) runs out due to the relatively poor energy differences between their food (reduced carbon) and the electron source (Fe(0) iron in this case).

    19. Re:What will they eat... by BobMcD · · Score: 1

      Yes, surely we should live in such a way that encourages more plants. The roof-top laws are probably an excellent example of this. Also, imagine some kind of living parking lot surface...

      Definite 'yes' goes there. However, there are other parts of the argument that don't stack up as easily today, like 'cut your carbon emissions'. The argument can be made that more carbon is actually helpful, provided we likewise support the plants to consume it.

      However, back to my original concept, I suspect that the plants will find another way even without our help.

    20. Re:What will they eat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'll see PETA throwing metal in the ocean to keep the microbes alive!

    21. Re:What will they eat... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      They might have evolved separately from the shipwrecks. Ocean water is not merely H2O + salt. Depending on the location the content of the ocean changes. Near the deep ocean trenches where the ocean vents, the water is higher in sulfur and sulfur dependent ecosystems thrive there.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    22. Re:What will they eat... by Erikderzweite · · Score: 1

      Established trees or growing trees? I'm not a biologist, but common sense tells me that if a tree mostly consists out of carbon captured from CO2 then a growing tree should capture more of it than an established one.

    23. Re:What will they eat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      evolve.. pssscht.
      the flying spaghetti monster clearly doesn't want the titanic to exist. It first placed the iceberg there, and then placed the microbes to cleanup the rest.

    24. Re:What will they eat... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      when they run out of titanic? These things did not evolve to just eat the titanic. What is their usual diet other than shipwrecks?

      It goes out at night, eatin' cars
      It eats Cadillacs, Lincolns too
      Mercurys and Subarus
      And it don't stop, it keep on eatin' cars
      Then, when there's no more cars
      It go out at night and eats up bars where the people meet
      Face to face, dance cheek to cheek
      One to one, man to man
      Dance toe to toe
      Don't move to slow, 'cause the bug from Mars
      Is through with cars, now it's eatin' bars

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    25. Re:What will they eat... by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      it's possible that they /did/ evolve just to eat the titanic. Maybe there were some microbes that ate some other iron-filled delicacy, and happened across this gluttonous feast. over the next thousands/millions of generations, the microbes then evolved to specifically eat the titanic...

      As it happens there is a natural source of elemental iron for them to eat - elemental iron forms naturally as inclusions in volcanic gabbro -- like those continuously erupting from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Such metallic iron deposits are found in Greenland, where it is called "telluric iron" - it was collected and used for tools by the Inuit (in addition to meteroic iron) see .

      Given the massive size of the ridge, there is probably quite a lot of iron for them to eat in an absolute sense.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    26. Re:What will they eat... by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      For goodness sake, iron-eating bacteria are hardly new. They evolve and survive at low levels throughout the world, consuming small amounts of iron that occurs naturally. At a shipwreck with the right conditions, the abundant food supply causes a population explosion. When the iron is gone, mass starvation, and they will go back to very low levels again. No surprises and nothing particularly new. The topic of iron-consuming bacteria at the Titanic and its eventual collapse has been mentioned in Discovery channel's endless stream of recut and rereleased Titanic show for more than a decade, so it's even well-documented in populist media.

    27. Re:What will they eat... by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Billions of years ago the earth was green because the oceans were lousy with iron and iron oxide.

      It wasn't until life appeared to bind the iron and release the oxygen that the Earth became blue.

      Then it froze over. The whole thing. For half a billion years. So be careful what you wish for.

    28. Re:What will they eat... by AJWM · · Score: 1

      Or perhaps pyrite treasure chests...

      --
      -- Alastair
    29. Re:What will they eat... by bar-agent · · Score: 1

      The flying spaghetti monster clearly doesn't want the titanic to exist.

      Well, they did serve a fancy Spaghetti Bolognese. I can see why he would be pissed.

      --
      i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
  9. Replicators!!!!! by ZoolTheNinja · · Score: 2

    Where's Richard Dean Anderson when we need him?

    1. Re:Replicators!!!!! by Noughmad · · Score: 2

      He's busy trying to make a paperclip out of a gun.

      --
      PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
    2. Re:Replicators!!!!! by SydShamino · · Score: 2

      He's busy trying to make a paperclip out of a gun.

      Duh, shoot a hole through the corner of all the pages, then stick the barrel in the hole. Voila.

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  10. OMG3D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But what did the 3D analysis reveal?
    And more importantly, what is James Cameron doing to help?

  11. They eat rust by Taylor123456789 · · Score: 0

    Another article said they eat iron-oxide, ie rust (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/301139). There are probably some pretty good practical applications for this.

  12. Propellers by dunezone · · Score: 4, Informative

    When it all turns to iron dust the propellers will still be there as their 100% manganese bronze and will must likely be buried before they fall.

    1. Re:Propellers by Wiarumas · · Score: 3, Funny

      Some call it dust, but others, like myself, call it poo.

      --
      I will bend like a reed in the wind.
  13. Rust Monsters? O noes! by sticks_us · · Score: 3, Funny

    All you fighters better turn in your plate mail, shields, and swords, and switch classes.

    Might I suggest thief or magic-user?

    --
    "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
  14. High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Informative
    From Microbewiki on Halomonas:

    Because Halomonas species are typically halophiles, they are usually found in water sources with high salinity levels, such as the Dead Sea and even within the frigid waters of Antarctica.

    In the paper you can see where this bug sits in the phylogenetic tree.

    I'm guessing the Midway Atoll has warmer water but you might find different microbes. I guess I'm more curious if the researchers think this bug already existed or if it was a neighboring microbe in the phylogenetic tree that colonized titanic and prospered, mutating slowly to what it is today -- accustomed to the iron of the wreck? If you drop anything with high surface area into the ocean and check it out fifty years later, it might be the norm to find some microbe busily breaking it down with a slight twist ...

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by raddan · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Your "high salinity" in Antarctica quote made me wonder why Antarctic waters would have higher salinity than, say, tropical waters near large landmasses, where there would presumably be lots of runoff. I found this salinity map of the oceans, which is quite surprising to me. The Atlantic is quite saline. Any oceanographers out there who can explain why salinity is distributed this way? I would expect the most saline areas to be near the tropics, and the least saline to be near the poles where you find melting ice and lower dissolving capacity of water (can you tell I'm not a chemist?). Also, not surprisingly, it seems that salinity is not evenly distributed from the top of the ocean to the bottom. Given that the Titanic in on the bottom of arctic waters, one would think that you wouldn't find Halomonas there.

    2. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by RudeIota · · Score: 1

      I don't know what I'm talking about, BUT I believe this is less about mineral sources and more about the convection of ocean currents and the weight of salinated water.

      --
      Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
    3. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by Sum0 · · Score: 2

      Higher temperature near equator = more evaporation = higher salinity. Melting water during summers near poles = freshwater input = lower salinity. Atlantic is more saline for various reasons, but input from the Mediterranean (small warm salty basin) is a big one. Depth distributions are related to global-scale thermohaline circulation as well as temperature related density stratifications

    4. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, it is all done by the centrifugal force... expect you to die, xkcd, etc.

    5. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by Five+Bucks! · · Score: 2

      Those highly-saline areas are called gyres. The one in the Atlantic that you see coincides with the Sargasso sea. It's a spot where a few currents meet and form a slow cyclone. The water there is therefore sort of cut off by a wall of currents. There isn't much circulation within the Sargasso and interesting things happen there...

      Such as giant floating mats of plastic debris and massive mats of floating seaweed.

      Sargasso Sea

      --
      52 52'23" W 47 32'07" N
    6. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It has to do with the fact that when water freezes in the Arctic, the water below it becomes saltier. The density differences causes the water to flow. For a better description read about the Great Ocean Conveyer.

    7. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by crunchygranola · · Score: 5, Informative

      ... The Atlantic is quite saline. Any oceanographers out there who can explain why salinity is distributed this way? I would expect the most saline areas to be near the tropics, and the least saline to be near the poles where you find melting ice and lower dissolving capacity of water (can you tell I'm not a chemist?). ...

      You have the arctic ice thing exactly backwards - the predominant process producing ice in the arctic is not glacier calving, but the formation of sea-ice through freezing. This process locks up freshwater and thus drives up the salinity. The other thing is that after the descending air circulation near the poles dumps its moisture as snow, it is really dry, and is it moves south along the surface it is both warming and picking up moisture further driving up the salinity, and the enclosed basin of the North Atlantic tends to traps the saline water thus formed.

      The saline water does escape the North Atlantic of course, by sinking to the bottom (forming the North Atlantic Deep Water, NADW) and flowing south. This drives the very important global thermohaline circulation system.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    8. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

      I don't know what I'm talking about

      I wish every post on Slashdot were prefaced this way. It makes me want a +1 Honest option.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    9. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      The psu (Practical Salinity Unit) is a ratio, so you're looking at a difference of about 5% (32 min to 37 max). The map is gradated to better see what are really very small differences in salinity.

      --
      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    10. Re:High Salinity Levels for Halomonas by blair1q · · Score: 1

      The Earth has been through a few cycles of sedimentation; sedimentation including the deposition of salt where bodies of water receded and dried up. In some cases cubic miles of the stuff. The Atlantic is a relatively new ocean in the middle of what used to be the Earth's only continent. Just the place you'd find a big lens of salt to be dissolved into the new ocearn.

      However, if you read that link you will find that the salinity affects all sorts of dynamic properties of the ocean, so it could be that the concentrations are due to stability in the distribution of these dynamics, with positive-feedback processes causing salt (in the form of alkaline and halide ions in solution) to migrate from areas of slightly lower salinity to areas of slightly higher salinity, creating a larger gradient in the dynamic process, that then causes more salt to migrate the same direction, and so on until some other process that operates in the reverse direction as a function of salinity reaches an intensity that puts the system into equilibrium, if indeed it is in equilibrium.

  15. Then we do need to raise the Titanic. by Apuleius · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The hull of the Titanic is made of pre-1945 steel. The bessemer process for making steel makes it absorb radioactive isotopes from the air, and so steel that was put throught the process before the first open air atom bomb tests is valuable for uses such as Geiger counters.

    1. Re:Then we do need to raise the Titanic. by KiwiCanuck · · Score: 1

      I for one welcome our iron-eating-radiation-absorbing overlords!

    2. Re:Then we do need to raise the Titanic. by SleazyRidr · · Score: 1

      Straight Dope was good this morning wasn't it?

      --
      Is 1563649 a prime number?
  16. Tourists prolly brought 'em by aGuyNamedJoe · · Score: 1

    How many such microbes normally roam the north atlantic, searching for ships to eat, I wonder.

    My guess is some of the visitors to the wreck brought them from warmer climes. Some of those submersibles have probably visited other wrecks and/or sites where such iron-eating microbes are hard at work, and had a little colony of their own.

  17. I've got relatives down there by Qubit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While I'm totally supportive of reasonable scientific expeditions down to see the wreckage, I am rather amused that the ship will eventually just dissolve away. At some point it all just turns to dust and gets recycled by the planet into new things. Even the physical object that we want to be most immutable -- the 1kg reference mass in France -- is beyond our ability to keep pristine. But there's no shame in that, for we are but mere mortals, muddling our way through the mysteries of the universe on our little, watery planet.

    In the end, it seems like a fitting and dignified end to the ship and to all of the souls who went down on her.

    --

    coding is life /* the rest is */
    1. Re:I've got relatives down there by nschubach · · Score: 2

      I agree, but you are telling this to people who bury their dead in sealed boxes within concrete containers with most of the rotting stuff taken out to try to preserve the body as much as possible. For some reason, humanity is obsessed with making worthless stuff last forever.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    2. Re:I've got relatives down there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While I'm totally supportive of reasonable scientific expeditions down to see the wreckage, I am rather amused that the ship will eventually just dissolve away. At some point it all just turns to dust and gets recycled by the planet into new things. Even the physical object that we want to be most immutable -- the 1kg reference mass in France -- is beyond our ability to keep pristine. But there's no shame in that, for we are but mere mortals, muddling our way through the mysteries of the universe on our little, watery planet.

      Exactly! "Diamonds are forever"...Except they aren't...

    3. Re:I've got relatives down there by cobrausn · · Score: 3, Informative

      And now we're trying to save the internet so future generations can be exposed to how stupid we were.

      --
      How does it feel to be a liar with pants constantly on fire?
    4. Re:I've got relatives down there by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      The Hindu concept of even mountains, planets and even the universe having a finite life, a birth and a death but endlessly in cycles do not sound so goofy, right?

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    5. Re:I've got relatives down there by bar-agent · · Score: 1

      And now we're trying to save the internet so future generations can be exposed to how stupid we were.

      Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, thus by preserving Goatse for all time, we are preventing future generations from making their own version, which would obviously be worse than ours, 'cause them damn kids cain't do nuffin' right.

      We are thinking of the children! Save Goatse — For Great Justice!

      --
      i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
  18. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

    You can protect your equipment from rust monsters by becoming confused (e.g. with a potion of booze) and then reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon / enchant armor. No problemo. Or alternately, you can simply remove the metal items and club or punch them to death.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  19. Maybe not: by Hartree · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There's still a good bit of such iron around from the German fleet that was scuttled at Scapa Flow after WW1.

    Ssh! Don't tell the microbes, or they'll hitch a ride on a passing container ship and gobble that up too.

    1. Re:Maybe not: by Motard · · Score: 1

      And at Iron Bottom Sound.

    2. Re:Maybe not: by Nimey · · Score: 1

      Ironbottom Sound would be problematic because those ships were sunk in battle, hence may be considered war graves and thus untouchable.

      The German fleet at Scapa Flow were scuttled by their crews after the First World War ended, and Scapa is shallower besides.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
  20. I've seen this before... by Stradenko · · Score: 1

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAvfDhr5_hk

  21. they look like this, only smaller by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    Langoliers Eat The Past

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  22. Huh? by Hartree · · Score: 2

    Ah.

    The wooden ships must go along with all those wooden swords the Japanese military have carried since heaven knows when, and the wooden type 3 heavy machine guns their infantry was using in WW-2.

    1. Re:Huh? by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 1

      Now you're trolling... We all know the Japanese used mostly paper for their houses and heavy industrial machinery.

      The question does however remain... Are there any bookworms living at those depths?

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
    2. Re:Huh? by m50d · · Score: 1

      You're confusing me, because many of Japan's best swordsmen really did use wooden swords.

      --
      I am trolling
    3. Re:Huh? by Hartree · · Score: 1

      Generally for practice and duels, but usually not for full out warfare.

      Unless, of course you actually were Miyamoto Musashi. Then you were so good it probably didn't matter.

  23. Leather ... I'm into leather by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

    Worked great 20+ years ago playing Rogue.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:Leather ... I'm into leather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just pictured the gimp from Pulp Fiction.

  24. My research by BigBadBus · · Score: 1

    I've written many articles and essays on the Titanic (and one book) - have a look here if you're interested. Even if you're not, take a look. As for the 2010 expedition (more of a media circus than a proper scientific expedition IMHO), click on my bouquets and brickbats for my thoughts on the matter. The links in my sig, and the musings are near the top of the page.

    --
    My web domain.
    1. Re:My research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've written many articles and essays on the Titanic (and one book) - have a look here if you're interested. Even if you're not, take a look. As for the 2010 expedition (more of a media circus than a proper scientific expedition IMHO), click on my bouquets and brickbats for my thoughts on the matter. The links in my sig, and the musings are near the top of the page.

      you suck at self-promotion

  25. Fracking Dick Cheney! by rickb928 · · Score: 0

    Tellin ya, he's in everything man... He's not letting up just because he's out of office.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  26. I don't think its startrek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe its a Stargate episode. The replicators being the bugs.. Although that dealt with a russian sub I believe

  27. NUMA! by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

    Quick! Send in Dirk Pitt before it's too late!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_the_Titanic!

    1. Re:NUMA! by sv_libertarian · · Score: 1

      The question is, what super villain will want the secret mutated iron eating bacteria to use in some fiendish plot to take over the world? My money is on the Iranians.

  28. Life will find a way by Comboman · · Score: 1

    If you drop anything with high surface area into the ocean and check it out fifty years later, it might be the norm to find some microbe busily breaking it down with a slight twist ...

    That's why I don't worry about the acres of plastic floating in the Pacific.

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
    1. Re:Life will find a way by Jawnn · · Score: 1

      Famous last words, eh? It would probably surprise you, then, to learn that the North Pacific Gyre is far, far larger than any area commonly referred to as "acres". There seems to be some debate about it's actual area, but the conservative end would more more appropriately described as "hundreds of thousands of square miles". The bulk of that flotsam is plastic, and most of that of a non-biodegradable nature. While it does degrade, it does so in a manner that actually enhances it's ability to carry toxins into the food chain, ultimately concentrating in species that humans frequently consume. So, "not worrying" about this is a arguably a bit foolish.

    2. Re:Life will find a way by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

      It would probably surprise you to learn that the North Pacific Gyre is not a tightly packed mass of plastic. It is simply an area where plastic is more prevalent due to oceanic currents. The fact that estimates of its size range from 270 thousand square miles and 5.8 million square miles should tell you that.

      It's certainly not a good thing, and it's something that needs to be dealt with, but it's also not universally negative as alarmists like to imply. A number of species of fish flourish in the flotsam, and a number of microorganisms may thrive in such environments as well.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
  29. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by oodaloop · · Score: 1

    And what's the thief supposed to use, mythril lock picks? Hmm?

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  30. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by corbettw · · Score: 1

    You know what doesn't rust? Gold. It was always a good idea to have a gold dagger on hand when playing with a certain DM.

    --
    God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  31. what? again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought they knew about these iron eating bacteria some time ago or is this just an update to say they're working faster then previously estimated.

  32. Yes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...it was called "Captain Picard and the Titanic munching super bugs".

  33. X-Files by cyclomedia · · Score: 1

    Was X-Files "D0d Kalm", the ship is slowly dissolving. Tho in that ep people are rapidly aging too

    --
    If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
  34. The water themperature at the bottom. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is a possible problem with your observations. While the surface temperature of the waters around Midway are warm, at the depth that the sunken warships are the water temperature is quite cool. Also there is deep ocean current (I don't know its name) going from Antarctica and welling up around Japan. The cold water from Antarctica cause the bottom waters of the Pacific to be colder than expected.

  35. ObI41 by cstacy · · Score: 1

    Ladies and gentlemen, uh, we've just lost the picture from our underwater robotic camera, but what we've seen speaks for itself. The Titanic has apparently been taken over- 'conquered' if you will- by a master race of iron eating bacteria. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will merely digest the sunken ship or enslave us all. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; Halomonas titanicae will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new rusty bacterial overlords. I'd like to remind them as a trusted Slashdot moderator, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underwater metal caves.

  36. More bugs needed by dragin33 · · Score: 1

    Now we just need to find some bugs to eat that horrible garbage island in the middle of the pacific. (which contains mainly plastics)

  37. Wikipedia on Microbial Corrosion shows Titanic pic by captainpanic · · Score: 1

    The Wikipedia page on Microbial Corrosion shows the Titanic... so either this is nothing new at all (just sensation), or wikipedia was updated really fast.

    Anyway, microbial corrosion is nothing new, and certainly already present everywhere.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_corrosion

  38. arsenic,iron,sulfur - microbes eat anything by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Theres a fringe branch of biology that studies extremophiles - microbes that can live nearly anywhere and metabolize nearly anything. Biochemical fossils suggests these may be the earliest form of life, before oxygen and carbon dioxide metabolism had evolved.

  39. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Nadaka · · Score: 1

    You know what makes a really bad sharp edge? Here is a hint, it is one of the softest metals, and it is yellowish. You would do better to put a gold brick in a sack and give the rust monster a blanket party.

  40. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Xphile101361 · · Score: 1

    I always have preferred bone or stone myself

  41. it wont survive outside cold water by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    They discovered a new species in this environment, who is to say this bacteria can survive outside of water, or outside of cold conditions...remember also in the depths of that level the density is different, who is to say that it can survive in less dense atmosphere...?

  42. This just in! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

    Organisms whose relatively high efficiency oxygen transport system critically depends on iron-bearing biological molecules gather to express surprise at an organism that could metabolize iron!

  43. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know what makes a really bad sharp edge? Here is a hint, it is one of the softest metals, and it is yellowish.

    Brass?

  44. Just to use the unused china? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe the bugs just wanted to use all that fancy, heretofore unused china. "Mmm, slap me a rivet on this plate."

  45. It's those damn Puppeteers again by KlomDark · · Score: 1

    Dropping engineered virii on the Titanic of all things. When will they give it up and convert to Kdaptism?

  46. Eating Japanese ships? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why?

    They'll just be hungry again in an hour.

  47. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Abstrackt · · Score: 1

    Your comment gave me this inexplicable craving for slime mold.

    --
    They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
  48. Isn't it supposed to work this way? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The expedition discovered that the wreck had split in two, with the bow and the stern facing in opposite directions. " \quote?

    1. Re:Isn't it supposed to work this way? by Skidborg · · Score: 1

      +1 there. I'd mod you up but I haven't seen any mod points in months.

      --
      Supporter of the +1 Over Dramatic mod option. In memory of apk.
  49. Re:Wikipedia on Microbial Corrosion shows Titanic by u38cg · · Score: 1

    We knew it was getting eaten - it's quite common in the right conditions. The interesting things are (a) the evolution of specialised nomming bacteria and (b) the rate of nomming.

    --
    [FUCK BETA]
  50. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by ebuck · · Score: 1

    Wooden sledge hammer. When finesse fails, brute force.

  51. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by oodaloop · · Score: 1

    Sure, but how many thieves have 18/100 STR? Wait, wait, we're taking about fighters switching classes. My bad.

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  52. For once.. by Nukenbar · · Score: 3, Funny

    I guess Iron man is not the answer to the problem.

    1. Re:For once.. by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Not to take that seriously or anything, but he could probably handle it just by brushing his armor twice a day, since it's essentially the same problem that you solve by brushing your teeth twice a day.

  53. Dust in the Wi**Water by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 1

    Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. If you don't use it, it will sit there and rust.

  54. My heart will go on... by BenSchuarmer · · Score: 1

    assuming the microbes don't go after the iron in my circulatory system.

  55. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I prefer throwing stones directly upward until dead, then going to play dungeon crawl.

  56. This is getting boring, Titanic by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    I'm beginning to suspect we'd be better off had this ship never hit an iceberg!

  57. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

    Bingo.

    The new breed of thief will be more thug than cat-burglar.

    --
    Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
  58. Might be useful by deadhammer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is a potentially useful bit of microbiology. Eventually we're going to have to clean up landfill sites and the like, so what would be more useful than a bug that strips all the iron out of a pile of stuff and deposits it in sediment? Scoop garbage into tanks, let the bugs do their work, collect the sludge at the bottom for processing. If we could engineer these bacteria to eat other stuff like copper or various types of plastic, we could potentially reclaim a lot of what we call "garbage" on the cheap. As for the Titanic? Well it's been almost a century now, I think it's time to let the old girl go.

    --
    I'll be honest, we're throwing science against the wall to see what sticks. -Cave Johnson
    1. Re:Might be useful by ThatMegathronDude · · Score: 1

      It would be cheaper to just sort the scrap pile than to let bacteria oxidize all that useful metal. We already smelted that stuff once, let's not waste that energy again.

    2. Re:Might be useful by TrentC · · Score: 1

      This is a potentially useful bit of microbiology. Eventually we're going to have to clean up landfill sites and the like, so what would be more useful than a bug that strips all the iron out of a pile of stuff and deposits it in sediment? Scoop garbage into tanks, let the bugs do their work, collect the sludge at the bottom for processing. If we could engineer these bacteria to eat other stuff like copper or various types of plastic, we could potentially reclaim a lot of what we call "garbage" on the cheap.

      For reasons why this might be a horrifically bad idea, I present you with the story of Klebsiella planticola.

  59. Re:Wikipedia on Microbial Corrosion shows Titanic by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

    The page was updated 7 days ago, but the pic is from 2005.

    --
    Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
  60. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat.

    --
    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  61. Don't tell me -- Heisenbug by diakonos · · Score: 1

    Was the bug introduced while studying the site? :P

  62. Re:Rust Monsters? O noes! by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

    in certain campaigns silver is useful to have. Preferably blessed. It's way harder than gold an does work for most undead and lycanthropes.

    --
    Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  63. Am I the only one... by wilderg · · Score: 0

    that thought of Bugs in the Arroyo? This must be one of the first stages of their evolution.

  64. +1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    great idea!