8 Million Year Old Bacteria Thaws, Lives

Jamie found a New Scientist story about 8 million year old bacteria that scientists thawed out, and now it's alive. Also somehow they are sure that this is safe. The interesting bit is that since these samples came from ancient ice, it seems that the world will naturally be filled with these guys soon.

Sounds Familiar....

[Zymergy]

Wasn't this the plot to "The Blob"? .... Wait, No, No, that one's still frozen in the Antarctic as a solution... Right? No, No.. that was "The Thing" that thawed out... Someone should Call Kurt Russell...

Re:Typical misleading summary...

[Anonymous Coward]

Furthermore, the bacteria in question is almost certainly safe because it evolved 4 mya

But you think that because you are a simpleton.

What if the bacteria harms only bumblebees? Or fishes? Or algae?

What would happen if it accelerated the breakdown of whale carcasses? Or coral?

The idea that we can cross it off the list of threats simply because it isn't likely to kill us by direct infection is preposterous. The survival of humanity depends on the survival of a great many natural processes. If the crop yields of our fields fall by 50% a great many of us will die. If the bottom of the ocean food chain is wiped out the ramifications will be felt by even the most landlocked humans.

Re:Typical misleading summary...

[MightyMartian]

The preponderance of evidence in the 1400's said that the world was flat and that sea monsters ate you if you took your boat too close to the edge.

Man, but I wish this particularly claim would die. It's false. Maybe some ignorant hicks in the backwoods of Austria believed that, but damn near every person with any degree of education since Classical times has known the Earth is a sphere. Eratosthenes [wikipedia.org] made an estimate, that while out, is still pretty accurate for the time, and Posidonius [wikipedia.org] got an estimate that was damn near spot on. Oh, and these guys lived a couple of centuries before Christ was alleged to have been born.

Re:Typical misleading summary...

[HeavyAl]

I know that this was meant in fun, and to be totally honest it WAS funny! Creationists who think the earth was made in a literal 6-7 day period are complete whack jobs that don't look at the evidence.

Some fundamentalists claim that creationism rather than evolution explains pre-human history. They assert that all physical creation was produced in just six days of 24 hours each sometime between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. But in doing so, they promote an unscriptural teaching that has caused many to ridicule the Bible.

Is a day in the Bible always literally 24 hours in length? Genesis 2:4 speaks of "the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven." This one day encompasses all six of the creative days of Genesis chapter 1. According to Bible usage, a day is a measured period of time and can be a thousand years or many thousands of years. The Bible's creative days allow for thousands of years of time each. Further, the earth was already in existence before the creative days began. (Genesis 1:1) On this point, therefore, the Bible account is compatible with true science.--2 Peter 3:8.

Commenting on claims that the creative days were only 24 literal hours in length, molecular biologist Francis Collins remarks: "Creationism has done more harm to serious notions of belief than anything in modern history."

So the bottom line is that the days mentioned in the Bible are figurative, not literal. Anyone who says otherwise is ignoring the evidence which is ironic considering most of those advocating this stance are trying to promote Bible teaching.