A real eureka moment
April 19th, 2009 by SecureCare“An unmapped reservoir of briny liquid chemically similar to sea water, but buried under an inland Antarctic glacier, appears to support unusual microbial life in a place where cold, darkness and lack of oxygen would previously have led scientists to believe nothing could survive…”When I started running the chemical analysis on it, there was no oxygen…it was a real ‘eureka’ moment.”…. Full Slice
April 25th, 2009 at 12:16
Anybody who includes a comment like “previously have led scientists to believe nothing could survive” really has not been following things for the last twenty years or so. Most biologists I talk to, (and scientifically, I talk mostly to biologists) think that life of some kind will be found in all sorts of extreme environments. I don’t think anybody was honestly surprised to find this life. Or would be suprised to find bacteria living 1km down in the Martian crust, living off Fe+++ to Fe++ conversion and dividing every few years, at a density of several per cc.
While I appreciate the fact that various science headline confabulators are spreading the word, I have to object to the sensationalism. The only excuse is if the headline writer actually thinks that sensational misrepresentation is legitimate if it does in fact attract otherwise non-readers.
I think the end can justify the dishonest means only where other means are honestly not available.
April 25th, 2009 at 16:05
Well, you know how PR is & how they “spin baby spin”.
April 29th, 2009 at 14:37
I might add that nowadays single-cell almost-whole-genome sequencing is getting close to routine. No need for cell culture.