Alaskan Village's Orange Goo Was Fungal Spores 47
olsmeister writes "In a follow-up to a report that was mentioned on Slashdot a week ago, the NOAA has determined that the orange 'goo' that washed up on the beaches at the remote Alaska village of Kivalina was not eggs of crustaceans, but rather spores from a fungus that creates rust on plants. It is not known whether the fungus is harmful to humans or not."
burst pipe (Score:2, Interesting)
Orange goo? I wonder if it makes you run faster...
Now you're thinking with fungals!
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I modded it up, thanks for the heads up.
wait,
Dohp
Only One Way To Find Out (Score:2)
It is not known whether the fungus is harmful to humans or not.
Well, there's really only one way to find out. Some unlucky volunteer needs to scoop some up and put it on a cracker. Orange, glow-in-the-dark caviar will be quite the novelty if their guinea pig does OK ;-)
Re: (Score:1)
If you eat it, it will turn you into a pirate. It was dropped by the flying spaghetti monster. It's trying to fix global warming.
Re:Does anyone have a link... (Score:4, Informative)
To the actual NOAA release, rather than the hideously dumbed-down MSN rehash?
http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/newsreleases/2011/orangesubstance081811.pdf [noaa.gov]
Although it's not much more informative...
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm, where's the '+0.5 Informative' mod...
Re: (Score:2)
Here you go. [noaa.gov]
San Diego smell? (Score:2)
What about the mysterious hydrocarbon odor wafting through San Diego lately?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/19/tests-odiferous-air-come-negative/ [signonsandiego.com]
The scary thing is that it took so long for them to analyze it, and they still don't know what it is. It's hard to believe there isn't a system in place for rapidly identifying airborne contaminants.
Re: (Score:2)
What about the mysterious hydrocarbon odor wafting through San Diego lately?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/19/tests-odiferous-air-come-negative/ [signonsandiego.com]
The scary thing is that it took so long for them to analyze it, and they still don't know what it is. It's hard to believe there isn't a system in place for rapidly identifying airborne contaminants.
The science goes where the money is--identifying the most dangerous things first, like radiation, anthrax, and 'in soviet russia' jokes.
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Yeah, because no one grabbed an air sample while the smell was at its peak. It took them hours just to collect some air.
It's probably just a jet fuel spill, but it could have also come from one of the many biosciences companies along the coast. Some people swear it smelled exactly like jet fuel. Others claimed it was exactly like chemicals used in protein denaturing. Thousands of people smelled it, but no one really knows what it is.
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Sheesh... You burn one hamburger on your barbeque, and the whole neighborhood complains. Damn vegetarians.
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That reminds me of my last girlfriend (Score:2)
Just go to the doctor and he'll give you some cream for it.
Re:Well damn (Score:4, Funny)
Ok, so Sarah Palin, a polar bear, and a cup of orange fungus spores walk into a bar...
They all saddle up to the bar for a drink.
The polar bear looks at Palin and then says to the orange fungus spores... I guess they will serve anyone here
Sarah Palin then blurts out "I'm a frayed knot!"
you didn't say it had to be a good joke.
Re: (Score:2)
Sarah Palin has always been a fun gal.
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Though somewhat of a spore loser...
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Re: (Score:2)
Leave it to goo to be insightful enough to realize that intelligence can be overrated. Maybe it thinks the comparative youngster would have been an ideal backup if John McCain got ill: Spare parts!
just thinking (Score:2)
Relieved (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I am very relieved to find out it wasn't a skull-boring, brain-eating crustacean.
What happens if I tell you it's a skull-boring, brain eating fungus?
Does that make you feel any better?
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Good Job Homeland Security (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You would think that given how much the US government spends on homeland security and protection against bio/chem threats, they would be able to analyze this faster. Then again, remote Alaskan villages are probably the last place any terrorist would think of to attack.
If it is an unknown fungus, it will take some time to figure out it's phylogeny. Probably the most direct method would be DNA sequencing. This can be done fairly quickly but interpreting the data might take some time.
Since it's unlikely to be a terrorist attack for the reasons you mention, the biggest problem may well be figuring out who should pay for it.
Re: (Score:2)
If I were a terrorist/rival nation/supervillain testing a killer super fungus, I would test it in an area where the impact would be noticeable but the reaction would be slow. Once preliminary tests are finished you can adjust for larger/more effective deployment. Just saying.
shipping container (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Or, it's an ancient superfungus that had been locked in an iceshelf after killing all life on the planet hundreds of millions of years ago... set free by global warming.
Whichever.
Doesn't... (Score:1)
LSD come from a "rust" on grain? Hmmmm.....
Re: (Score:2)
That's an insult to honest, hard working, LSD users everywhere, you insensitive clod!
Planet is rising! (Score:2)
Better watch out for those mindworms.