TIL about Extremophiles - Life Finds a Way
Life never ceases to be amazing where and how it is able to survive. Some of the most extreme places we've unexpectedly found life forms are at really high pressures, without oxygen, intense salt level, no sunlight, around hydrothermal vents, extremely high/low pH levels and even the harshness of outer space!
Thermophiles
Thermophiles are life forms that live in higher temperatures between 106 and 252 °F (41 and 122 °C.) The differing colors you see here in Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone Park are actually due to various microbial life forms!
The vivid colors in the spring are the result of microbial mats around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The mats produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids and on the temperature gradient in the runoff. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green.[8] The center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.
-Source
Hydrothermal Vents
These Giant Tube worms are a form of Thermophile that also adapted to survive in the hydrogen sulfide rich area, which is typically poisonous to most life forms, around underwater hydrothermal vents. Organisms around these vents use chemosynthesis which is the ability to convert carbon-containing molecules into energy. In the case of the Giant Tube worms, they have "have an organ containing chemosynthetic bacteria instead of a gut."
Water Bears - Survives Cold, Hot, Even Space
These little guys are amazingly resilient and have been found all over our planet including the deep sea, rain forests, and even in the Antarctic. While they aren't necessarily an extremophile (which requires being adapted to directly exploit these environments) they can withstand just about any temperature, any pressure (including the vacuum of space,) large doses of radiation, live without food for thirty years and even dry out and be reanimated with a little bit of water!
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Image Sources:
Thermophile
Giant Tube Worms
Water Bear
Nice job, still no love for Archaea. Those poor guys always get left out of people's discussions. Despite being ubiquitous all over the place and not a single one known to be a human pathogen.
Hehe, I planned to do another part or two on extreme life. I had a bunch that I did want to include, but prefer to keep the length/reading time down on these. I'm sure I can show some Archaea love in follow ups. :)
Yay! They are pretty cool little buggers, they deserve a pat on the head every now and again. :)
Here's a little homage to the Archaea! :D
https://steemit.com/nature/@sykochica/til-archaea-extreme-extremophiles-and-more
At this stage of my intellectual development, I believe that life is a force of Nature. It is built in to the laws of nature for this particular Universe as dictated by the initial conditions set forth in the Big Bang.
It's a little off topic, but this is my 500th post on Steemit, so I thought it would be appropriate to shoot off some fireworks to celebrate...
I can agree with that, life being a force of nature. If there is an abundance (or at least enough with lack of competition) of something, life adapts to make use of that. I sometimes view humans (and life in general) as 'entropy machines' where order was created to churn out 'dis-order' by breaking things down (i.e. digestion.) I imagine the universe would likely have become a rather boring place without these. :)
Grats on the 500th post! Love the awesome fireworks video!! :D
Since you are hip to life being machines, I think you would really enjoy Richard Dawkin's book "The Selfish Gene." He is a highly respected evolutionary biologist and the book is easy to read (no science jargon and complicated math) and makes the case that living organisms are "survival machines" for the replicators.
Dawkins is a brilliant mind and BTW it is interesting to note that he invented the word, "meme" and explains them as part of the book. I rate the book in the top ten of all books I have read, and I have read many hundreds.
Here is a 4 minute video that might get you interested in his thesis:
Furthermore you can read the book free on PDF here:
https://archive.org/stream/TheSelfishGene/RichardDawkins-TheSelfishGene_djvu.txt
I actually read that book many years back! Dawkins is pretty intriguing and I'm rather onboard in the genetic analogy of us being machines. I will say that when sentience is added in it becomes a much more difficult concept to fully carry over (even though it still applies on some level) since we at that point can 'override' our pure biological instincts.
Not meaning this as an argument of your point at all. Just an extension where further 'variables' are involved.
I'd love discussions on these types of topics. I sure don't claim to 'know.' :)
Science has a really long way to go before know it all; a really really long way. Discussing this stuff is how I learn. When I'm wrong about things, thats time to see the error of my thinking and take it to the next level.
You bring up an interesting topic...sentience. Humans rebel against death and disease and we want to have it our way. Birth control pills are certainly an affront to the replicators, but then again they have the last word by letting the DNA of those who control their DNA replication go extinct in favor of a less fickle species such as cockroaches to chose an unsavory example, but nonetheless a species eager for replication.
Dawkins describes us as being at war with DNA, in a way that is true, but not 100% because humans are probably DNA's best hope for long term survival. Some day this planet is going to go burn up in the sun and long before will go void of life.
Humans may just escape this fate and have the potential, though a far fetched concept in this day and age, to escape even the death of this Universe by escaping into some parallel universe through a wormhole.
Good job!
TY!
NASA can't actually remove all the little guys from their equipment. Extreme heat, UV, chemicals etc.
Even if they find microscopic life on Mars, it'll probably be stuff they took up there.
Heh, that would make sense. I'd think there would also be the chance they hitched a ride on an asteroid as well to travel.
This reminded me of a scene in The Fifth Element where they had to clear out parasites in the landing gear. "We need some heat here man!" Lol