The depths of the Earth are teeming with mysterious life

Date:

2018-12-13 16:00:12

Views:

4553

Rating:

1Like 0Dislike

Share:

The depths of the Earth are teeming with mysterious life Source:

This may seem fantastic, but deep beneath our feet is a living world. Look under the soil layer, under layer rocks, and find a hot, bubbling underground world teeming with life, where the biosphere on the surface of the blush with shame. How much life underground is an open question. And him trying to answer 1200 scientists from the Deep Carbon Observatory, probing the Earth's crust. Ten years later, sensing they seem to have the answer.

This week they announced that observation gave enough data to estimate the number of lives underground. In the underworld is from 15 billion to 23 billion tons of carbon mass. This is equivalent to 385 times the specific gravity of carbon all 7.5 billion people on the surface.

But don't worry about what the mighty biomass of the underworld can rise up to crush us, the inhabitants of the surface: it consists of tiny microbes and eukaryotes, uniquely adapted to living in these hellish conditions.

the

the underground

The Researchers found microbes at the depth of 5 km under continents and 10.5 kilometers beneath the ocean surface, hidden in cracks in the rocks. sometimes be just a few microns — thinner than a human hair. Surprisingly, scientists have been able to pull samples from under the ground, to sequence their DNA in the lab and to reveal their metabolic processes. In some cases, the germs and bacteria have adapted to live on hydrogen and carbon dioxide and to maintain themselves for hundreds of years. Other microbes were living in stasis for millions of years and they can be brought back to life in the laboratory.

A New assessment of the common life under the earth's surface is the answer to one unresolved issue, however, many more waiting in the wings. Microbes under the ground — in a sense, "dark matter". Like the cosmic dark matter, which can be detected only by its gravitational effects, there are mysterious microbes, which scientists Deep Carbon Observatory can observe through DNA sequencing, but can't recreate in the lab.

What do you think who is the real owner of the Land? Tell us in our

Recommended

Can genes create the perfect diet for you?

Can genes create the perfect diet for you?

Diet on genotype can be a way out for many, but it still has a lot of questions Don't know what to do to lose weight? DNA tests promise to help you with this. They will be able to develop the most individual diet, because for this they will use the m...

How many extraterrestrial civilizations can exist nearby?

How many extraterrestrial civilizations can exist nearby?

If aliens exist, why don't we "hear" them? In the 12th episode of Cosmos, which aired on December 14, 1980, co-author and host Carl Sagan introduced viewers to the same equation of astronomer Frank Drake. Using it, he calculated the potential number ...

Why does the most poisonous plant in the world cause severe pain?

Why does the most poisonous plant in the world cause severe pain?

The pain caused to humans by the Gimpi-gympie plant can drive him crazy Many people consider Australia a very dangerous place full of poisonous creatures. And this is a perfectly correct idea, because this continent literally wants to kill everyone w...

Comments (0)

This article has no comment, be the first!

Add comment

Related News

A ten-year study allowed us to calculate the mass of the underground ecosystem of the Earth

A ten-year study allowed us to calculate the mass of the underground ecosystem of the Earth

full of life, but a new study suggests that the bulk of this life inhabits is not where you would think. In a large-scale project, which lasted a decade, scientists conduct a census of the largest and at the same time less explor...

Flight to Mars will shorten the life of the astronauts on 2.5 years

Flight to Mars will shorten the life of the astronauts on 2.5 years

At present, humanity has almost everything you need in order to make the longest space mission in history — flight and Mars. In space you can get energy from the Sun, to get water, to replenish oxygen through artificial phot...

New tweezers will allow scientists to conduct a biopsy on living cells

New tweezers will allow scientists to conduct a biopsy on living cells

Usually, when scientists wanted to study the molecular contents of individual cells, it had to kill, literally exploding. However, this process provides only one snapshot of the molecular composition of cells at the time of her de...

Life on Earth could appear due to... common salt

Life on Earth could appear due to... common salt

If you believe the movies about monsters and old scientific experiments, began with a spark. Not all believe in this history about the origin of life, so continue to look for sources of energy that can turn probioticeski the broth...

'Junk' DNA found to be effective in the fight against cancer

'Junk' DNA found to be effective in the fight against cancer

Most medicines are developed on the basis of tumor antigens (TSA). And their search begins with the study of peptides derived from protein-coding exons. However, as we found out, a group of researchers from Canada, such peptides i...

The new theory can explain 95% of the missing space

The new theory can explain 95% of the missing space

Scientists from Oxford University may have solved one of the biggest questions in modern physics: their new work combines dark matter and dark energy into a single phenomenon: the liquid, which has a "negative mass". If you try to...

Can I see a black hole? Will we one day?

Can I see a black hole? Will we one day?

In the twisted halls of black holes faced two fundamental theories describing our world. Are there any black holes really? It seems that Yes. Is it possible to resolve the fundamental problems that emerge upon closer examination o...

Electronics to a new level displays a two-dimensional material. And that's not graphene

Electronics to a new level displays a two-dimensional material. And that's not graphene

Since the discovery of graphene (a material with two-dimensional structure, which is based on carbon) in 2004, scientists speculated about the presence of other materials with similar properties. Theorists had predicted that boron...

On the spacecraft, sent to explore mercury, the first test of the devices

On the spacecraft, sent to explore mercury, the first test of the devices

In mid-October 2019 started the mission BepiColombo, in which the spacecraft with research equipment on Board went to mercury to study the planet. The launch was successful and the spacecraft sent the first pictures shot during th...

Harvard scientists will spend the next year experiment on the cooling of the Earth

Harvard scientists will spend the next year experiment on the cooling of the Earth

talk about a similar study began in the last month. A group of scientists from Harvard and Yale offered to "cheat" the "original but not yet a proven way to combat climate change." But as it turned out, it was only to check the fe...

The large hadron Collider closes for two years

The large hadron Collider closes for two years

the world's Most powerful particle accelerator went silent. 3 December 2018 particles made its last run, finished the last round at the Large hadron Collider, after which the scientists switched off the machine for two years for s...

An antibiotic prolonged life and protection from neurodegenerative diseases

An antibiotic prolonged life and protection from neurodegenerative diseases

For the development of new therapies, it is logical to develop new drugs. However, sometimes it happens that even well-known drugs can surprise and help in the treatment of diseases and not only. So this time, as reports the press...

The astronomers measured how much light radiated by the stars in the entire history of the Universe

The astronomers measured how much light radiated by the stars in the entire history of the Universe

Astronomers have measured the whole sky, which was leaked to the space in the entire history of the Universe. Get 4 x 1084 particles of light, i.e. photons. It is roughly equivalent to all the photons which would emit if burned 10...

NASA will broadcast the landing of the probe on the asteroid live

NASA will broadcast the landing of the probe on the asteroid live

we had Not the lander to rest on the Red planet, NASA is already preparing for another spectacular event. The spacecraft Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx for short) ...

What happens if you swallow the head of a LEGO man?

What happens if you swallow the head of a LEGO man?

You will not believe, to find out what scientists do at times. This time they decided to find out how long it takes for the pieces of LEGO to pass through the digestive tract of an adult. In the end, LEGO playing boys and girls ol...

Discovered new types of bacteria that feed on greenhouse gases

Discovered new types of bacteria that feed on greenhouse gases

American scientists from the University of Texas at Austin found at the bottom of the Gulf of California colonies of bacteria, which can help us in the fight against sea pollution and increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the a...

Confirmed: a molecular

Confirmed: a molecular "switch" will destroy cancer cells without complications

the Cells in our body regularly die and are replaced by new ones. The mechanism of "planned" cell death is called apoptosis and is a completely normal physiological process. But what is typical for normal cells, the cancer cells. ...

Scientists have come up with a risky method of protection from global warming

Scientists have come up with a risky method of protection from global warming

Global warming is considered one of the probable reasons of destruction of life on Earth. Scientists have observed a sharp change in the climate of the planet and believe that the increase in temperature is inevitable . Lately the...

Sodom and Gomorrah? Residents of the Dead sea destroyed by a meteorite

Sodom and Gomorrah? Residents of the Dead sea destroyed by a meteorite

a red-Hot explosion, which came from heaven, destroyed homes and villages to the North of the Dead sea around 3700 years ago, scientists have found. Radiocarbon Dating and the extracted minerals, which instantly crystallized at hi...

Found a part of the brain that make people unique creatures

Found a part of the brain that make people unique creatures

According to American theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, the human brain is the most complex object in the Universe. Based on this statement, it is not surprising that scientists constantly find out something new. For example, an ...