Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
After Thousands of Years, Earth's Frozen Life Forms Are Waking Up
http://gizmodo.com/after-thousands-of-years-earths-frozen-life-forms-are-1686782409What's happening in Siberia's thawing permafrost and Greenland's melting glaciers sounds borderline supernatural. Ancient viruses, bacteria, plants, and even animals have been cryogenically frozen there for millennia—and now, they are waking up.
Cryofreezing is best known for its appearances in science fiction, but self-styled "resurrection ecologists" are now showing the world just how real it is. In 2012, scientists germinated flowers from a handful of 32,000 year old seeds excavated from the Siberian tundra. Last year, researchers hatched 700-year old eggs from the bottom of a Minnesota lake, while another team resuscitated an Antarctic moss that had been frozen since the time of King Arthur. Bacteria, however, are the uncontested masters of cryogenics—one bug, at least, was alive and kicking after 8 million years of suspended animation.
Fear not—while awakening a million-year old plague sounds like a great scifi plot, most of these critters are totally harmless. But they're fascinating for another reason: They're a window into Earth's past; one that may offer clues to how species will cope with change in the future. Here's what the emerging field of resurrection ecology—which is as badass as it sounds—may allow scientists to do....
For the first time now, biologists can do just that—study live organisms that hail from a different era. Sure, bacteria and mosses are a far cry from a T-rex, but being able to poke and prod any creature that crawled about a million years ago is still astounding. As scientists described in the 2013 resurrection ecology manifesto, cryogenically frozen specimens are like an "evolutionary time machine." They offer researchers a new way to study the past, but also, the chance to observe evolution in real time.
Cryofreezing is best known for its appearances in science fiction, but self-styled "resurrection ecologists" are now showing the world just how real it is. In 2012, scientists germinated flowers from a handful of 32,000 year old seeds excavated from the Siberian tundra. Last year, researchers hatched 700-year old eggs from the bottom of a Minnesota lake, while another team resuscitated an Antarctic moss that had been frozen since the time of King Arthur. Bacteria, however, are the uncontested masters of cryogenics—one bug, at least, was alive and kicking after 8 million years of suspended animation.
Fear not—while awakening a million-year old plague sounds like a great scifi plot, most of these critters are totally harmless. But they're fascinating for another reason: They're a window into Earth's past; one that may offer clues to how species will cope with change in the future. Here's what the emerging field of resurrection ecology—which is as badass as it sounds—may allow scientists to do....
For the first time now, biologists can do just that—study live organisms that hail from a different era. Sure, bacteria and mosses are a far cry from a T-rex, but being able to poke and prod any creature that crawled about a million years ago is still astounding. As scientists described in the 2013 resurrection ecology manifesto, cryogenically frozen specimens are like an "evolutionary time machine." They offer researchers a new way to study the past, but also, the chance to observe evolution in real time.
14 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
It only takes one. 
