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During a July 2011 voyage to the Pacific Ocean chasm, researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and National Geographic engineers deployed untethered landers, called dropcams, equipped with digital video and lights to explore the largely mysterious region of the deep sea.
The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches (10 centimeters), their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms.
Extreme Environment, Extreme Creature
The researchers spotted the life forms at depths up to 6.6 miles (10,641 meters) within the Sirena Deep of the Mariana Trench. The previous depth record for xenophyophores was approximately 4.7 miles (7,500 m) in the New Hebrides Trench, although sightings in the deepest portion of the Mariana Trench have been reported. [Infographic: Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench]
xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury and are thus likely resistant to large doses of heavy metals. They also are well suited to a life of darkness, low temperature and high pressure in the deep sea.
..continued
The xenophyophores are just the tip of the deep-sea ecosystem iceberg. The expedition also found the deepest jellyfish observed to date, as well as other mysterious animals.
Originally posted by Q:1984A:1776
reply to post by sbctinfantry
Thanks so much for bringing that story to my attention. That was probably the coolest article I've read all year, simply for the fact that it turned my preconceptions about "micro"organisms on it's head. I love it when the foundations of my world get shattered.
Don't be so quick to jump on the bandwagon against NASA though. Space exploration is the only thing that will ensure our survival as a species beyond the death of our sun, or other inevitable destruction of our planet before then (if we don't kill ourselves first). Granted, they are a lousy department, but they've paved the way for private corporations expanding into space travel and exploration. I hope I get to see that come to fruition in my lifetime.
Not just the cameras, but importantly, the lighting. I would think a backlit lighting source might reveal features that a lighting source on the camera might not reveal. But I agree with "It depends..." on a number of things.
Originally posted by TrueBrit
I would say that depends on how good the cameras were wouldnt you ?
Originally posted by sbctinfantry
I know I come down hard on astronomy and other stargazing sciences, but ask yourself if you were going to actually learn something (not just look at pretty pictures, SOHO and neat models of the solar system) and apply that knowledge to stargazing, where are you most likely to learn it?
Earth.
Why? Proximity. Also, the difference in pressure zones is so vast that it might as well be a different planet and the strange life forms found like this prove it. Now, think about this.
That's just the ocean, and a small part of it. Then you must take into consideration the ground and caves and methane vents. Think about the atmosphere and salt flats, and tar pits.
We could find life all over the universe if we understand how it operates on this planet. How can we even begin to study life on other planets and assume we will discover it when there is so much life undiscovered here.
Now, final question. Where does the majority of the money go?
Yeah, space. Sounds pretty silly in that context.
Originally posted by sbctinfantry
Originally posted by Q:1984A:1776
reply to post by sbctinfantry
Thanks so much for bringing that story to my attention. That was probably the coolest article I've read all year, simply for the fact that it turned my preconceptions about "micro"organisms on it's head. I love it when the foundations of my world get shattered.
Don't be so quick to jump on the bandwagon against NASA though. Space exploration is the only thing that will ensure our survival as a species beyond the death of our sun, or other inevitable destruction of our planet before then (if we don't kill ourselves first). Granted, they are a lousy department, but they've paved the way for private corporations expanding into space travel and exploration. I hope I get to see that come to fruition in my lifetime.
We have entire scientific fields based on studying heavenly bodies and we don't fully understand the one beneath our feet. Seems silly to go scouring the galaxy for clues across imaginable distances, but hey, there's plenty of clues right here!
What hubris! What banality!