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Weird Life Found Trapped in Giant Underground Crystals
Hat tip: a commenter posted a picture of these crystals at Joe.My.God.
The article has pictures of these, but the National Geographic prefers that you view them at the linked article.
Weird Life Found Trapped in Giant Underground Crystals
Floating in pockets of fluid, the microbes are likely new to science and may be up to 50,000 years old, a NASA researcher says.
5 MINUTE READ
BY VICTORIA JAGGARD
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 17, 2017
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- Creatures that thrive on iron, sulfur, and other chemicals have been found trapped inside giant crystals deep in a Mexican cave. The microbial life-forms are most likely new to science, and if the researchers who found them are correct, the organisms are still active even though they have been slumbering for tens of thousands of years.
If verified, the discovery adds to evidence that microbial life on Earth can endure harsher conditions in isolated places than scientists previously thought possible. (See “Life Found Deep Under Antarctic Ice for First Time?”)
“These organisms have been dormant but viable for geologically significant periods of time, and they can be released due to other geological processes,” says NASA Astrobiology Institute director Penelope Boston, who announced the find today at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “This has profound effects on how we try to understand the evolutionary history of microbial life on this planet.”
....
Floating in pockets of fluid, the microbes are likely new to science and may be up to 50,000 years old, a NASA researcher says.
5 MINUTE READ
BY VICTORIA JAGGARD
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 17, 2017
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- Creatures that thrive on iron, sulfur, and other chemicals have been found trapped inside giant crystals deep in a Mexican cave. The microbial life-forms are most likely new to science, and if the researchers who found them are correct, the organisms are still active even though they have been slumbering for tens of thousands of years.
If verified, the discovery adds to evidence that microbial life on Earth can endure harsher conditions in isolated places than scientists previously thought possible. (See “Life Found Deep Under Antarctic Ice for First Time?”)
“These organisms have been dormant but viable for geologically significant periods of time, and they can be released due to other geological processes,” says NASA Astrobiology Institute director Penelope Boston, who announced the find today at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “This has profound effects on how we try to understand the evolutionary history of microbial life on this planet.”
....
PHOTO GALLERY
Giant Crystal Cave Comes to Light
See photos of some of the world's largest crystals in a giant Mexico cave under Naica mountain—discovered by miners.
2 MINUTE READ
BY STEFAN LOVGREN AND TED CHAMBERLAIN
PUBLISHED APRIL 8, 2007
IT'S "THE SISTINE Chapel of crystals," says Juan Manuel García- Ruiz.
The geologist announced this week that he and a team of researchers have unlocked the mystery of just how the minerals in Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) achieved their monumental forms.
Buried a thousand feet (300 meters) below Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert, the cave was discovered by two miners excavating a new tunnel for the Industrias Peñoles company in 2000.
The cave contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found: translucent gypsum beams measuring up to 36 feet (11 meters) long and weighing up to 55 tons.
"It's a natural marvel," said García-Ruiz, of the University of Granada in Spain.
....
Giant Crystal Cave Comes to Light
See photos of some of the world's largest crystals in a giant Mexico cave under Naica mountain—discovered by miners.
2 MINUTE READ
BY STEFAN LOVGREN AND TED CHAMBERLAIN
PUBLISHED APRIL 8, 2007
IT'S "THE SISTINE Chapel of crystals," says Juan Manuel García- Ruiz.
The geologist announced this week that he and a team of researchers have unlocked the mystery of just how the minerals in Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) achieved their monumental forms.
Buried a thousand feet (300 meters) below Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert, the cave was discovered by two miners excavating a new tunnel for the Industrias Peñoles company in 2000.
The cave contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found: translucent gypsum beams measuring up to 36 feet (11 meters) long and weighing up to 55 tons.
"It's a natural marvel," said García-Ruiz, of the University of Granada in Spain.
....
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Obscure reference I know but it’s one of the greatest 42 minutes of TV I’ve ever seen.
I have never seen pictures of these crystals, they are humongous. The mysteries of this earth are unbelievably awe inspiring and unending.
