bacteria that eat rock and need no oxygen

[masonswanson]

hey i was watching tv the other day and saw something about this but had to leave half way through it so if you know anything about these little guys then would you please tell me something?

[lindagarrette]

You must be referreing to the microbes living in the tiniest of gaps in deep granitic and basaltic formations. They metabolize hydrogen. Here is a reference site with a lot of other good stuff, too. .http://www.resa.net/nasa/otherextreme.htm

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by masonswanson

hey i was watching tv the other day and saw something about this but had to leave half way through it so if you know anything about these little guys then would you please tell me something?

These sound like the kind of organisms that could bring life to one planet from another by surviving the rigors of intergalatic travel. Is this how life began on Earth?

[dagaz]

Originally Posted by C1ay

These sound like the kind of organisms that could bring life to one planet from another by surviving the rigors of intergalatic travel. Is this how life began on Earth?

This is one of two main theories as to how life began, the life-from-space theory as originally put forward by Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. Many of the tenets of the theory, as it was originally put forward, have now been discredited.

The second theory, the chemosynthetic origins of life theory, was given strong impetus by the experiments of Urey and Miller in the 1950's which used conditions similar to those thought to be prevailing on the prebiotic Earth to produce amino acids and other organic molecules.

[alxian]

i'd asked some high energy astronomers about this type of life form and they said that the extrasolar planets we're finding may already be dead, but these creatures are hardy enough and well sheltered enough that as long as enough gases and solvent pass through their habitat that they could survive for quite a while longer than life on the surface

i was speculating that even if the core stopped spinning and the mantle cooled you'd still have energy potential in the form of radioactive deposits.. i passed this by michael and he said its possible but these would be the most extreme of extremophiles given the toxicity of radioactive isotopes. i'm thinking if life had enough time to evolve and had few sources of energy left it might be possible for bacteria (or possibly larger organisms) to absorb the isotopes and metabolize them, the energy potential would be massive if they could convert it naturally (nature nuclear fission) in a sped up decay process.. it would require energy storage methods exceeding what known life is capable of and a hardy dna structure not to mention high radiation tolerances.

imagine a planet swiss cheesed with bacterial columns originating from a uranium deposit, life funneling and recycling nuclear energy naturally. very unlikely but good for fiction

[TeleMad]

Originally Posted by dagaz

This is one of two main theories as to how life began, the life-from-space theory as originally put forward by Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe.

The life-from-space theory is called panspermia, and dates back to the 19th century (long time before Hoyle). Svante Arrhenius is one of the scientists who proposed it.

[Turtle]

___Rock eating bacteris I understand is now thought largely responsible for cave formation, as opposed to the leaching acid rain/water hypothesis. I think I heard they excrete sulfuric acid?

[alxian]

yes they do, meaning that sulphure sucking bacteria and their buddies down in the ocean depths can exist in very toxic environments, life can control almost all compounds in nature.. i'm wondering if their could be a super creature capable of tackling all known toxins and if their are any trully toxic compounds no life form can actually deal with.

[bumab]

Originally Posted by alxian

i'm wondering if their could be a super creature capable of tackling all known toxins and if their are any trully toxic compounds no life form can actually deal with.

i've thought about that too... i'd have to say a very high radiative level would probably knock out most things, through sheer damage to DNA. there'd have to be incredible DNA repairing protiens just to deal with the little amounts of radiation cockroaches have withstood. anything much higher, and i think most life would be toast...

[Fishteacher73]

There are actually bacteria found living in barrels of radio-active wastes, others that use plutnium and other radio-active elements.

It is theorized that the bacteria in the sub-soil actually out number (in both numbers and bio-mass) that life at the surface. One estimate would cover the surface of the Earth to a depth of about 5 feet of single celled organisms...