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Deepest living animal discovered

Started by Disco Pickle, June 03, 2011, 04:38:35 PM

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Disco Pickle

June 03, 2011, 04:38:35 PM
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110601-deepest-worm-earth-devil-science-animals-life/

QuoteA "devil worm" has been discovered miles under the Earth—the deepest-living animal ever found, a new study says.

The new nematode species—called Halicephalobus mephisto partly for Mephistopheles, the demon of Faustian legend—suggests there's a rich new biosphere beneath our feet.

Before the discovery of the signs of the newfound worm at depths of 2.2. miles (3.6 kilometers), nematodes were not known to live beyond dozens of feet (tens of meters) deep. Only microbes were known to occupy those depths—organisms that, it turns out, are the food of the 0.5-millimeter-long worm.

"That sounds small, but to me it's like finding a whale in Lake Ontario. These creatures are millions of times bigger than the bacteria they feed on," said study co-author Tullis Onstott, a geomicrobiologist at Princeton University in New Jersey.

(See "Deepest-Ever Fish Caught Alive on Camera.")

"Shocking" Worm Evolved For Harsh Depths

Onstott and nematologist Gaetan Borgonie of Belgium's University of Ghent first discovered H. mephisto in the depths of a South African gold mine. But the team wasn't sure if the worms had been tracked in by miners or had come out of the rock.

To find out, Borgonie spent a year boring deep into mines for veins of water, retrieving samples and filtering them for water-dwelling nematodes. He scoured a total of 8,343 gallons (31,582 liters) until he finally found the worm in several deep-rock samples.

(See "World's Deepest Mines Highlight Risks of New Gold Rush.")

What's more, the team found evidence the worms have been there for thousands of years. Isotope dating of the water housing the worm placed it to between 3,000 and 12,000 years ago—indicating the animals had evolved to survive the crushing pressure and high heat of the depths.

"This discovery may not surprise passionate nematologists like Gaetan, but it's certainly shocking to me," Onstott said.

"The boundary of multicellular life has been extended significantly into our planet."

Worm Inspires Search for Extreme Life

Onstott hopes the new devil worm will inspire others to search for complex life in the most extreme places—both on Earth and elsewhere.

(Read "Searching for New Earths" in National Geographic magazine.)

"People usually think only bacteria could exist below the surface of a planet like Mars. This discovery says, Hold up there!" Onstott said.

"We can't negate the thought of looking for little green worms as opposed to little green microbes."

"Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter." --William Ralph Inge

"sometimes someone confesses a sin in order to take credit for it." -- John Von Neumann

Nephew Twiddleton

#1
June 03, 2011, 04:41:43 PM
That's pretty nifty
Strange and Terrible Organ Laminator of Yesterday's Heavy Scene
Sentence or sentence fragment pending

Soy El Vaquero Peludo de Oro

TIM AM I, PRIMARY OF THE EXTRA-ATMOSPHERIC SIMIANS

The Good Reverend Roger

#2
June 03, 2011, 04:42:21 PM
Wait til they find the DEROS and Nazi Hell Creatures from the Hollow Earth.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Telarus

#3
June 03, 2011, 05:03:49 PM
That's pretty cool!

Hey, in other crazy animal life news, Great White Sharks have a preference for AC/DC:

http://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/06/02/1249230/ACDC-Music-Attracts-Great-White-Sharks

bazzalunatic writes "It turns out great white sharks can be lured underwater to cages by playing hits from AC/DC — specifically 'Shook me all night long'. Matt Waller, a shark diving tour operator in Australia, has found this curious fact. But it's not just any song, as the sharks weren't attracted by other tunes. Matt suspects the sharks are attracted to the low frequencies found in AC/DC's music. One wonders if they'll be turned off by Celine Dion music — a new type of shark repellent perhaps?"
Telarus, KSC,
.__.  Keeper of the Contradictory Cephalopod, Zenarchist Swordsman,
(0o)  Tender to the Edible Zen Garden, Ratcheting Metallic Sex Doll of The End Times,
/||\   Episkopos of the Amorphous Dreams Cabal

Join the Doll Underground! Experience the Phantasmagorical Safari!

Cain

#4
June 03, 2011, 05:05:51 PM
Or sharks just have good taste.  Plausible alternative hypothesis, ITT

The Good Reverend Roger

#5
June 03, 2011, 05:07:14 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 03, 2011, 05:05:51 PM
Or sharks just have good taste.  Plausible alternative hypothesis, ITT

AC/DC is not in any sane universe1 "good taste".




1  Naturally, this means England gets an exception.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cain

#6
June 03, 2011, 05:08:57 PM
Best Australian band since Men At Work.  No debate.

And there are many Great Whites native to the Australian coastline.  Therefore they are being patriotic and indulging in their local culture.

The Good Reverend Roger

#7
June 03, 2011, 05:10:08 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 03, 2011, 05:08:57 PM
Best Australian band since Men At Work.  No debate.

As "Bob" is my witless, I have no response to this post.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Nephew Twiddleton

#8
June 03, 2011, 05:13:19 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 03, 2011, 05:10:08 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 03, 2011, 05:08:57 PM
Best Australian band since Men At Work.  No debate.

As "Bob" is my witless, I have no response to this post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII

:lulz:
Strange and Terrible Organ Laminator of Yesterday's Heavy Scene
Sentence or sentence fragment pending

Soy El Vaquero Peludo de Oro

TIM AM I, PRIMARY OF THE EXTRA-ATMOSPHERIC SIMIANS

The Good Reverend Roger

#9
June 03, 2011, 05:14:07 PM
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Luna

#10
June 03, 2011, 05:22:44 PM
Death-dealing hormone freak of deliciousness
Pagan-Stomping Valkyrie of the Interbutts™
Rampaging Slayer of Shit-Fountain Habitues

"My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and they live in a state of constant, total amazement."

Quote from: The Payne on November 16, 2011, 07:08:55 PM
If Luna was a furry, she'd sex humans and scream "BEASTIALITY!" at the top of her lungs at inopportune times.

Quote from: Nigel on March 24, 2011, 01:54:48 AM
I like the Luna one. She is a good one.

Quote
"Stop talking to yourself.  You don't like you any better than anyone else who knows you."

The Good Reverend Roger

#11
June 03, 2011, 05:29:06 PM
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Luna

#12
June 03, 2011, 05:34:07 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 03, 2011, 05:29:06 PM
Quote from: Luna on June 03, 2011, 05:22:44 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 03, 2011, 05:14:07 PM
Quote from: Nephew Twiddleton on June 03, 2011, 05:13:19 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 03, 2011, 05:10:08 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 03, 2011, 05:08:57 PM
Best Australian band since Men At Work.  No debate.

As "Bob" is my witless, I have no response to this post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII

:lulz:

Can't see that at work.

Safety Dance video.   :lulz:

You East coast perverts are all the same.

Hardly.  I can only dream of living up to the level of perversion of some of our esteemed members.

That was a fun video, though.   :D  When I'm Queen, I want a dwarf in motley to dance for me.
Death-dealing hormone freak of deliciousness
Pagan-Stomping Valkyrie of the Interbutts™
Rampaging Slayer of Shit-Fountain Habitues

"My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake, and they live in a state of constant, total amazement."

Quote from: The Payne on November 16, 2011, 07:08:55 PM
If Luna was a furry, she'd sex humans and scream "BEASTIALITY!" at the top of her lungs at inopportune times.

Quote from: Nigel on March 24, 2011, 01:54:48 AM
I like the Luna one. She is a good one.

Quote
"Stop talking to yourself.  You don't like you any better than anyone else who knows you."

President Television

#13
June 03, 2011, 06:35:17 PM
My shit list: Stephen Harper, anarchists that complain about taxes instead of institutionalized torture, those people walking, anyone who lets a single aspect of themselves define their entire personality, salesmen that don't smoke pipes, Fredericton New Brunswick, bigots, philosophy majors, my nemesis, pirates that don't do anything, criminals without class, sociopaths, narcissists, furries, juggalos, foes.

Adios

#14
June 03, 2011, 09:13:17 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 03, 2011, 05:07:14 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 03, 2011, 05:05:51 PM
Or sharks just have good taste.  Plausible alternative hypothesis, ITT

AC/DC is not in any sane universe1 "good taste".




1  Naturally, this means England gets an exception.

Your ears require adjusting. AC/DC was full of awesome.
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