Microscopic Animal Revived After Slumbering in Arctic Permafrost for 24,000 Years (cnn.com) 30
Bdelloid rotifers typically live in watery environments and have an incredible ability to survive. Russian scientists found the creatures in a core of frozen soil extracted from the Siberian permafrost using a drilling rig. CNN reports:"Our report is the hardest proof as of today that multicellular animals could withstand tens of thousands of years in cryptobiosis, the state of almost completely arrested metabolism," said Stas Malavin, a researcher at the Soil Cryology Laboratory at the Pushchino Scientific Center for Biological Research in Russia.
Earlier research by other groups had shown that the rotifers could survive up to 10 years when frozen. In a new study, the Russian researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine that the critters they recovered from the permafrost -- ground that is frozen year-round, apart from a thin layer near the surface -- were about 24,000 years old. The study was published in the journal Current Biology on Monday. It's not the first time ancient life has been resurrected from a permanently frozen habitat.
Earlier research by other groups had shown that the rotifers could survive up to 10 years when frozen. In a new study, the Russian researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine that the critters they recovered from the permafrost -- ground that is frozen year-round, apart from a thin layer near the surface -- were about 24,000 years old. The study was published in the journal Current Biology on Monday. It's not the first time ancient life has been resurrected from a permanently frozen habitat.
The Green Death (Score:1, Funny)
Do you want the infected? (Score:2)
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Pera-frosted. (Score:2)
It's not the first time ancient life has been resurrected from a permanently frozen habitat.
Insert joke about some actors career.
Re: Pera-frosted. (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually, you could insert a joke about Joe Bidenâ(TM)s career.
Definitely sounds like (Score:1)
a bad 50s horror movie.
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I was thinking of some specific X-Files episodes that seem eerily prophetic now.
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I really, really want to follow Mulder's advice about trusting no one, but if I do then it means I'm trusting his advice, so... logic loop overflow.
Dr. Who episode ensues (Score:2)
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complete with rubber suits and zippers
Implications for life on Mars (Score:3, Interesting)
This suggests that if there was ever life on Mars, it is still there, frozen.
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A big difference between 24,000 years, and a billion years.
If we do find evidence of past life on Mars, it is likely to be simple bacteria-like life.
Complex life such as these animals (or even single-cell plants) is likely far more rare in the universe.
First thing animal did (Score:2)
has no one watched (Score:5, Funny)
What Could Go Wrong : P (Score:2)
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"Uhh, Sergeant? Does that double negative mean you want everybody to touch everything?
"Shut up, Hicks"
"Hudson, sir. He's Hicks"
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Sgt. Apone knew all their names. It was Lt. Gorman who confused Hicks and Hudson.
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I should have put the character names in. There was an implication by the use of "sir" (as sergeants aren't officers), though.
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I could see that being done in a movie, but it's still wrong though - the Lt. would not have admonished a soldier to shut up. Discipline is the responsibility of the sergeants - a good Lt. would ignore it as being beneath his notice and let the sergeant do his job.
And there are certain things that an officer would have to come down hard on - if he officially noticed it - that are better handled internally to the unit. Gets complicated!
Permafrost receding... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Permafrost receding... (Score:4, Interesting)
Finally, a post in this thread that doesn't reference some crappy movie or shitty TV show.
I think the previous record was something pulled from a glacier core, which are also melting at an accelerating rate. "Multicellular animal" is technically correct here, but this is pretty minimal. A large rotifer can eat a small paramecium, so there aren't many cells in play here.
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I'd watch that only if Adam Sandler died horribly in the first few minutes.
Have they sequenced them? (Score:5, Interesting)
Bdelloid rotifers are "an evolutionary scandal", because they're not only parthenogenetic, they've also survived long enough to fork multiple distinct species. (For certain meanings of species, as I said they're parthenogenetic, so they don't depend on sex to reproduce.)
Therefore I'd think sequencing the genomes of these ancient instances would be a high priority
Comment (Score:2)
New franchise idea (Score:2)
Jurassic Aquarium
We don't really understand life (Score:2)
How did that first molecule get the drive to persist and reproduce?
Not yadda yadda, what specifically did the trick? Then how does it work from the first molecule to single-celled to multicellular creatures? Still much to discover.