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And here I thought Taq ( Thermus aquaticus) polymerase was the deepest.
Essex_boy:
Protists are a kingdom of celled organisms distinct from animals, plants, and fungi. Other types of protists include algae and slime molds.
Now surely there are some slime molds in your neck of the woods? Thought they were ubiquitous ... ;-)
When they retrieve a part from a lunar lander they found that the part had been accidentally contaminated by bacteria before it was sent to the moon.
The bacteria was still alive after surviving many years on the surface of the moon.
Life is truly very resilient.
In fact, a type of worm, Alvinellids, which averages about 3 inches in length, has been observed in water where the temperature difference between one end and its other is 140 degrees F - the steepest temperature gradient on Earth! How these things can live under such extreme conditions is a question that has biologists scratching their heads!
[gsfc.nasa.gov...]
The problem that we may face shortly is that as Carbon dioxide levels rise (as they will) and dimming is reduced due to the cleaner methods of energy production we will have a dual effect of warming. Another huge issue is the release of methane from silty deposits and permafrost in the arctic, a small temperature rise will trigger massive releases of this greenhouse gas that will acceleate the rise and have a snowball effect on the release of more methane.
Scientists (and increasingly, world governments) are REALLY worried about this combination and have pinpointed rapid rises in earth temperatures in the past which appear to be consistent with methan releases.
Some respected scientists have presdicted some very scary results within our lifetime. Time to take heed.
