[HN Gopher] Life has been found beneath hydrothermal vents for t...
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Life has been found beneath hydrothermal vents for the first time
Author : geox
Score : 71 points
Date : 2023-08-08 17:36 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.iflscience.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.iflscience.com)
| fuzztester wrote:
| What are those very small creatures called that can live in
| extreme temperatures? I read about them here some years ago.
| Jarcel wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile
| chucksta wrote:
| >Here, on the East Pacific Rise, an underwater robot was able to
| turn over sections of volcanic crust to reveal a new-to-science
| ecosystem teeming with worms, snails, and chemosynthetic bacteria
| that are seemingly thriving despite living in 25degC (75degF)
| water.
|
| I don't understand, the temp under the sand is 25C/75F? Or is
| that a typo?
| otikik wrote:
| Either it's a typo, or I have a bunch of unknown species in my
| backyard.
| chucksta wrote:
| Got this from the "better source" link. So its 75F in a cave
| under the vent I guess
|
| >Using an underwater robot, the science team overturned
| chunks of volcanic crust, discovering cave systems teeming
| with worms, snails, and chemosynthetic bacteria living in 75
| degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) water.
| tifik wrote:
| I still dont see why this would be a surprising find in any
| way. That teperature seems very pleasant and conductive for
| life. Maybe the extend of the ecosystem is what is
| shocking? Why point out a relatively normal temperature
| then though?
| JumpCrisscross wrote:
| Finding life in those conditions isn't as surprising as
| finding those conditions in the first place, together
| with a reproductive cycle that seemingly involves
| traveling through vent fluids?
| dragonwriter wrote:
| > That teperature seems very pleasant and conductive for
| life.
|
| The article is somewhat confusing but I think the
| surprising thing is that the ecosystem includes species
| that are known to be extremophiles that are part of vent
| ecosystems that have very different conditions than the
| newly-discovered below-the-vents ecosystems, and which it
| was previously unknown how they arrived at new vents,
| almost immediately when the vents form.
| [deleted]
| standardly wrote:
| Look up the phenomenon of "cymatics". My personal theory is
| spontaneous organization of cells is possible due to the
| frequencies created by hydrothermal vents and that this
| phenomenon might have been a major driver in abiogenesis.
|
| If you have ever seen where they put sand on a vibrating metal
| plate, and it creates symmetrical patterns, that's what I'm
| referring to.
| mandmandam wrote:
| That's a very cool personal theory, and I would love to see it
| get explored.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| It's constructive interference of the pressure wave.
| Fascinating! Thank you for your comment!!
| BitNibbler wrote:
| I googled this and found your reddit post from 12 years ago.
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/p504b/cymatics_a...
| standardly wrote:
| Wow! That's definitely me, I forgot I made that post! I was
| actually studying biology in college at the time. It's a
| layman theory, I am not a biologist, but wish a real
| scientist could expound on the idea.
| tudorw wrote:
| Multifold soap bubble cymatics:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWLtTP07FCw
| bayouborne wrote:
| I thought this was already settled science, and that this
| knowledge was what was driving the interest to get to Europa via
| the Clipper probe.
|
| https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper
| waster wrote:
| We previously knew about life _in_ the hydrothermal vents. That
| was indeed the basis for the planned Europa exploration. but
| this is about life _underneath_ the vents, and if I understand
| correctly, the way that life travels through cracks in the
| crust.
| [deleted]
| monkeycantype wrote:
| My fave theory for the origin of life is that the porous spaces
| in the material around the vents were full of pockets which
| functioned as different cells in which sets molecules would
| interact. Groups of molecules that cooperated to form a
| successful self-replicating metabolism that excluded freeloaders
| would then colonise neighboring pockets. But free loader
| molecules that could infiltrate a metabolism and contribute
| nothing, but use it only for their own self-replication would
| also thrive. according to this theory the evolution of metabolism
| precedes the development of the cell membrane, the cell membrane
| might have begun as incomplete barrier to reduce loss and entry
| to neighboring pockets and take time to become a complete
| barrier. What I love about this theory is that it sets up the
| contest between co-operation (cells) and infiltration (viruses)
| as strategies for life right from the get go.
| novia wrote:
| Better source: https://schmidtocean.org/scientists-discover-new-
| ecosystem-u...
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(page generated 2023-08-08 23:00 UTC)