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Life In Extreme Conditions
Stony Brook - Nov. 8, 2000 Life exists even at the South Pole, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, with microbiologist Ed Carpenter of the State University of New York in Stony Brook and his colleagues finding between 200 and 5000 bacteria per millilitre of melted snow from the pole. To their surprise, biochemical tests and electron microscope images show that the organisms can grow and divide even at -17 degrees C -- the coldest condition the team tested. "Probably they could live at even lower temperatures," says Carpenter. Although bacteria have been found in the snow near the pole before, they were thought to have blown in accidentally. No one believed they could grow in the harsh conditions there, where temperatures range between -85 degrees C and -13 degrees C. DNA tests revealed that all the bacteria are previously unknown species. Their closest relatives are a group called Deinococcus, which are known for their extremely efficient DNA repair mechanisms. It was not known why the Deinococcus evolved such high protection, since nowhere on Earth is ultraviolet radiation strong enough to damage DNA so badly. However, severe desiccation can harm DNA just as much as UV radiation does -- and the Antarctic is very dry, because all the water is frozen. "At the South Pole, the repair mechanisms make sense," says Carpenter. The finding suggests that life could exist in other environments previously thought too harsh, such as the polar ice cap on Mars, the researchers say. "The more extreme conditions that we look at, the more we find that bacteria are able to survive," says Carpenter. Rich Zurek, who worked on NASA's Mars Polar Lander programme, says that while the average temperature at Mars's North Pole is only around -70 degrees C in summer, local areas of volcanic activity or hot springs might have provided enough warmth for life to evolve. In the Martian winter, temperatures fall to around -120 degrees C, but Zurek says there is no reason why organisms would not be able to survive. "Under those kind of conditions, life goes dormant. It finds a way to preserve itself, " he says. More at: Applied and Environmental Microbiology (vol 66, p 4514) This article appeared in the Nov 11 issue of New Scientist New Scientist. Copyright 2000 - All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by New Scientist and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written authorization from New Scientist. CommunityEmail This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
Magnetic Reconnection Region Larger Than 2.5 Million Km Found In The Solar Wind
Paris (ESA) Jan 12, 2006Using the ESA Cluster spacecraft and the NASA Wind and ACE satellites, a team of American and European scientists have discovered the largest jets of particles created between the Earth and the Sun by magnetic reconnection. This result makes the cover of this week's issue of Nature. |
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