Single Microbe May Have Triggered the "Great Dying" 171
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."
The kaboom (Score:5, Funny)
And it could also have been... (Score:2, Funny)
By reading the Wikipedia article, I have determined that it also may have been:
- A single rock
- A single volcano
- The build-up of a single type of gas
- The rising of a single body of water
- Lack of a single element in the water
Re:The kaboom (Score:4, Funny)
Obviously the Illudium Pu-36 Explosive Space Modulator was stolen by a rabbit.
"It obstructs my view of Venus"
--
BMO
It's not the size of the organism (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Second post. (Score:3, Funny)
*sigh*
Quite complaining & get nerding.
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Re:A whole strain? (Score:5, Funny)
> The headline made me think that this guy somehow had it narrowed down to one actual organism.
That is difficult to envision, Chuck Norris was born so much later.
Re:Jay Gould (Score:4, Funny)
Re:A whole strain? (Score:5, Funny)
He doesn't need to - ecosystems adapt to him.
Re:Jay Gould (Score:5, Funny)
It's the ultimate measure of biomass.