Atomic Extremeophiles Thrive Where the Life-Giving Energy of the Sun Never Reaches

tabsey

5-5-2008 9:14 AM

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/83835374-2cec-44fe-a785-4054cbb97e24/464C8468-D3DE-4402-B74B-37D4E73788B4/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/05/atomic-extremeo.html" href="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/05/atomic-extremeo.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.dailygalaxy.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/05/atomic-extremeo.html"><P><A href="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/04/trans_mars_dust_storm_2_2.gif"><IMG width="216" height="312" border="0" alt="Trans_mars_dust_storm_2_2" title="Trans_mars_dust_storm_2_2" src="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/images/2008/05/04/trans_mars_dust_storm_2_2.gif" /></A>
 "Life finds a way."  Thanks to a research time involving Princeton, Indiana University, and others, that isn't just a sappy Disney quote - it's an incredible fact.  They found extremophile bacteria buried over two miles into solid rock, where the life-giving energy of the sun never reaches - the energy every other species on Earth depends on.  Instead they found their own power source - radiation!</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/05/atomic-extremeo.html"><P>The hardy organisms have a unique biology with a very refined palate,
consuming the by-products of radioactive breakdown to stay alive. 
Uranium decay cracks water molecules apart, recombining into peroxide
(which you might know as bleach).  This combines with fool's gold
(pyrite) to release ions, which the cells' specialized metabolism can
derive energy from.  To summarize: these things sit on uranium, drink
bleach and eat solid rock, thereby making every single "Iron Stomach"
contest in human history look like a day at the buffet.  Hell, these
things make Batman look like a daycare attendant.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/464C8468-D3DE-4402-B74B-37D4E73788B4/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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