Single Microbe May Have Triggered the "Great Dying"

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Single Microbe May Have Triggered the "Great Dying"

Posted by Unknown on Monday December 17, 2012 @08:05PM from the get-your-flu-shot dept.

An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from Medical Daily about a new theory for what triggered the "Great Dying: " "Researchers believe that they may finally know why the event occurred, but the theory is not without controversy. There are several theories, including the possibility of a meteorite hitting the planet. Previously, most researchers believed that the Permian mass extinction was a result of a series of volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia. ... However, Daniel Rothman from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is floating around a different theory. As he presented in a meeting for the American Geophysical Union, he believes that the mass extinction could have been caused by something much smaller. His theory is that the extinction was caused by a single strain of bacteria."

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Jay Gould by Kupfernigk · 2012-12-17 20:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

He remarked in one of his essays that people completely misunderstand evolution, using teleological thinking to believe that we are in some way the "highest form" or "goal" of evolution. But in fact, in terms of biomass and effects on the Earth's ecosystems, we are still living in the Age of Bacteria.

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From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
1. Re:Jay Gould by Kupfernigk · 2012-12-17 21:57 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  What part of "in terms of biomass" did you not understand?
  
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  From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
2. Re:Jay Gould by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-18 00:22 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Also, I'd say that thinking that the amount of biomass is a good indicator of evolution is probably a very USian thought.
  Why would you assume that someone is from the United States of Brazil based on that statement? Or did you mean the United States of America? Please pay attention to common world-wide convention and just refer to them as either "Brazil" or "America" respectively, so as to avoid confusion. Also, saying "USian" makes you sound like you're some kind of idiot with an axe to grind. Just FYI.
Re:It's very poor science in one way... by TapeCutter · 2012-12-17 22:07 · Score: 3, Insightful

Yes, evidence that backs up your idea is a good way to get a science grant, science grants have a proven track record of increasing our knowledge of the world around us.

Nowadays you HAVE to incorporate gas-influenced Climate Change into EVERYTHING you produce.Otherwise you risk losing your grant to a malleable researcher.
Yeah right because the 100+ nations that fund the IPCC all have exactly the same political agenda and every mainstream scientist, science journal and scientific institute on the planet has been bought of by an international system of grants that doesn't actually exist. Do you realize how fucking crazy paranoid you have to be to believe that, it's the same anti-science shit you hear from creationists, anti-vax'ers, and other groups of whacko's who don't like specific aspects of the natural world and choose to walk around with their head up their arse. Geology is the only tool we have to investigate past climate, get a grip on your paranoid delusions and go read a climate science text book, particularly the chapters on paleo-climatology.

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And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Re:The kaboom by gmuslera · 2012-12-17 23:24 · Score: 3, Insightful

That will be done by the cause of the Second Great Dying, this time will be something a bit bigger than a microbe, in fact will look a lot like us.
He is mistaken by paiute · 2012-12-18 00:13 · Score: 3, Insightful

He does not have a theory. He has a hypothesis.

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If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Re:Second post. by donscarletti · 2012-12-18 00:36 · Score: 1, Insightful

Video ads = evil
Unintrusive, relavent and optimised ads = a good way to generate revenue and maybe even learn about a useful product from time to time.

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When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem