Slashdot Mirror
Alaskan Village's Orange Goo Was Fungal Spores
olsmeister writes "In a follow-up to a report that was mentioned on Slashdot a week ago, the NOAA has determined that the orange 'goo' that washed up on the beaches at the remote Alaska village of Kivalina was not eggs of crustaceans, but rather spores from a fungus that creates rust on plants. It is not known whether the fungus is harmful to humans or not."
Orange goo? I wonder if it makes you run faster...
Now you're thinking with fungals!
To the actual NOAA release, rather than the hideously dumbed-down MSN rehash?
http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/newsreleases/2011/orangesubstance081811.pdf
Although it's not much more informative...
But you can't cause you just posted... damn... now, I can't as well.
Ok, so Sarah Palin, a polar bear, and a cup of orange fungus spores walk into a bar...
They all saddle up to the bar for a drink.
The polar bear looks at Palin and then says to the orange fungus spores... I guess they will serve anyone here
Sarah Palin then blurts out "I'm a frayed knot!"
you didn't say it had to be a good joke.
You would think that given how much the US government spends on homeland security and protection against bio/chem threats, they would be able to analyze this faster. Then again, remote Alaskan villages are probably the last place any terrorist would think of to attack.
logistically, the easiest explanation is a cargo ship container carrying grain contaminated with a rust fungus, gone overboard and ruptured open, spreading the resulting gooey goodness before port inspectors could go "blech" in person. note that I'm not saying it went overboard accidentally, although it would be hard to implement without a dock loader-- it's a lot easier to write off a container "lost" at sea than "contents consumed by fungus"