For the term of their natural, windowless, lives
January 18th 2011 05:02
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Vyoos news
Living to be 34,000 years old would have some advantages (you'd have a lot of chances at the lottery), but there are some serious drawbacks too.
For a start, you would have to be a bacterium, which means that you would be limited, even if you did win the lottery, in what you could buy and enjoy.
Secondly, it's a long time to have a lousy view.
The 34,000-year-olds are a family of microbes were found by a research team digging in salt crystals at the bottom of Death Valley in California. The ancients were found living inside tiny, fluid-filled chambers within the crystals.
Brian Schubert, who made the discovery, described the find as a "very big surprise".
"They're alive," he said, "but they're not using any energy to swim around, they're not reproducing, they're not doing anything at all except maintaining themselves."
Long-term maintenance, but not much to look at and even less to do.
The story of the microbes has just been published in GSA Today, the publication of the Geological Society of America.
story: dailymail.co.uk; image: agry.purdue.edu
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Comment by Andy Tope
Bagman's Gazette
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
really, imagine all the poor wallflower bacteria, 34k of feeling rejected....
cheers
fog
Comment by Chris Champion
Vyoos
Zoomies
Bloggercises
The Blog of Lists
Newly Old
Money Whither
Comment by Chris Champion
Vyoos
Zoomies
Bloggercises
The Blog of Lists
Newly Old
Money Whither
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
Would it be about the minutia of their daily lives?
If there's one other thing I know nothing about it's bacteria.
Can we set it in Adelaide?
Comment by Chris Champion
Vyoos
Zoomies
Bloggercises
The Blog of Lists
Newly Old
Money Whither
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
Comment by Chris Champion
Vyoos
Zoomies
Bloggercises
The Blog of Lists
Newly Old
Money Whither
That's the trouble with smart people - they come up with two great ideas where only one was necessary. Now we have to arrange a committee meeting to discuss the options. This is likely to add $2 billion and 750 years to the process. The lawyers and PR people will love it, of couse, but the market-place (an often overlooked component of the entertainment industry project planning mix) will look for alternative stimulation. No wonder rave parties and hip hop caught on.
You should be more careful, Norm.
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
If we authorise The Dork Crystal, go to page 2
If we authorise Bacterium To The Future, go to page 3
If we authorise an independent consultancy firm to advise us on the most profitable course of action, go to lunch.
We re-arrange contracts.