Water Isolated for Over a Billion Years Found Under Ontario 207
ananyo writes "Scientists working 2.4 kilometers below Earth's surface in a Canadian mine have tapped a source of water that has remained isolated for at least a billion years. The researchers say they do not yet know whether anything has been living in it all this time, but the water contains high levels of methane and hydrogen — the right stuff to support life. Micrometer-scale pockets in minerals billions of years old can hold water that was trapped during the minerals' formation. But no source of free-flowing water passing through interconnected cracks or pores in Earth's crust has previously been shown to have stayed isolated for more than tens of millions of years (paper abstract)."
Measurement exactly? (Score:3, Interesting)
How exactly is the time calculated? Does anyone know? I mean I have heard of several methods, from carbon dating to a few others, however this one is a bit exotic. It is not explained in either the article nor the paper, but only references another paper as which title seems to say potential method, which doesn't sound awfully conclusive.
They mention the encapsulating rock formations are billions of years old, and I can get behind that analysis, but it is my understanding that you can find billion year old rock in a lot of places. How does one date water? How do you know that it has been trapped all that time, and not captured at some point through various geological processes.
The paper references the African goldmine, but they used microbes, which I have to believe they haven't found yet. Something to do with levels of Xenon seems to be indicator, but what does that mean?
Anyway I remain skeptical until I see the details... however the only problem admittedly is the details might be beyond my level of comprehension... Still it would be nice to know and at least attempt to explain how this is possible.
Re:It is time (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, sure, it can interact with us. It can interact with us just like tree pollen does: it can bounce off, it can get washed away in a pool of mucus, it can get embedded in earwax, it can get clobbered by a macrophage and digested in a lysosome... those are all forms of interaction!
1.5 billion years ago is 1.5 billion years behind in an arms race—an arms race that is comprised entirely of exploiting vulnerabilities in a hardened enemy. This organism is not used to human physiological conditions. It is not used to the human immune system. Hell, it may even pre-date the concept of complex multicellular life. The idea that the systems could be compatible is, statistically, laughable. It is less than a rounding error.
Biology is not a horror movie, and it is not a computer. Fiction has lied to you.
Personally, I'm a fan of panspermia, but the fossil record goes back so far that what arrived on Earth would necessarily have to be extremely simple; possibly just a handful of nucleic acids (or analogous) with no envelope. Such organisms would be ridiculously delicate, and most likely destroyed instantly by RNases if they were exposed to the modern atmosphere on Earth.
Re:It is time (Score:4, Interesting)
It's a fine line to walk, certainly, and that's hard to squeeze adequately into a Slashdot post. I agree with your views. Brave New World is a title that has had an immense impact on the world, much like Nineteen Eighty-Four, and these were very important resources in preventing the world from becoming unhinged at critical moments in the twentieth century. A good book can be a powerful tool—although, be wary, as books can present garbage and convoluted logic and still be just as accepted. (Annoyed glares go to War and Peace and She Who Must Not Be Named.)
My complaint is really about the influence of trash on popular culture. The Andromeda Strain, to pick a random title from a vast genre, presents a completely implausible story, but has contributed to the long-running idea that nature is out to kill us. Carl Sagan was similarly upset about the repetitiousness of fictional portrayals of aliens as hostile, if you'll recall.
As for the radium situation: I've done a bit of reading on this, and it's worth noting that the Radium Corporation actively tried to suppress information about the dangers of its products. The result was a lot of regulation, which has generally been successful in protecting health. Caution, in this case, was prevalent.
I somewhat suspect, though, that all important/successful dystopian novels have concentrated on ethical issues: people hurting each other or the environment. Fear of the world beyond us has, so far, been comparatively unproductive.