Deepest Ocen Trech Home to World's Largest Amoebas

Deepest Ocen Trech Home to World's Largest Amoebas

Imagine one of these guys, but more than 100 times bigger. That's what scientists found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest known part of the world's oceans.

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]

First of all this really blows me away because I never paid attention in biology admittedly for the very fact that I never knew that single cells could grow this large. This definately reinforces the idea that if we can dream the type of life, it has to exist somewhere (law of probability).

I personally don't bother myself as to whether other life is out there or not, because we probably will never reach it and I personally believe the whole space program is a diversion from real exploration. Know thyself; it's a good rule to follow in all things, and I find it hard to believe just how little we know about this planet. You can read "fictional" documents like The Report From Iron Mountain and it will explain the basics of why it is important to distract the human race with silly things like NASA, deep space exploration and the ISS. I digress...

Two interesting points about the article in it's own words.

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.

So they are the very kinds of extremophiles we might imagine on another planet, but they were right below us all along!

How can we be so ignorant of the ground we walk on and all that is beneath it? I understand we can learn a lot about our planet from the stars, but can't we learn just as much about the stars from our planet? In fact, wouldn't knowing everything that is reasonable about our planet help us explore space? How would you know, because until you know what Earth has to offer, you can't be sure.

What if we're missing entire fields of science that could be applied to stargazing because we were too proud to look down?

Although Biology is an extremely interesting subject, too many teachers fail to transfer this excitement through their lectures. It leaves us to yawn and doodle to keep awake when we should be paying attention to what goes on around us. As we grow older we rediscover these subjects under our own terms and find them absolutely fascinating. This is a good example of the sort of articles that wake up our imagination to the possibilities of undiscovered creatures right here on this earth.

I think that space exploration is very important, but I also think that there is still so much more to discover here on earth. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that we've seen and heard it all, but things like this remind us that there are still many mysteries to be solved. I suppose that we should take responsibility for our own education, but when we don't do enough to make sure that the kids and younger people know that there is so much to our world, what do we expect? The main stream news won't cover topics like this, newspapers won't cover topics like this,... so... unless you're already interested in this sort of thing and actively seek it out, the chances of you coming across this information are very slim. So sad.

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.

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!

One application of them came to mind immediately, use them to bio-harvest heavy metals from mine tailings or waste products.

reply to post by sbctinfantry

If all they did was drop a camera and photograph them, I don't really understand how they know that the organism is just one cell?

It seems to me like it would be kind of hard to tell that from just some photographs of the type taken by just dropping a camera and shooting some pictures.

But if it's confirmed these cells are actually 4 inches long, that's got to be some kind of record right? I don't doubt the creatures are 4 inches long, but the article wasn't very clear about how they determined the 4 inch long creature only consisted of one cell.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


I would say that depends on how good the cameras were wouldnt you ? If they can zoom in real hard, and see what appears to be a clearly defined cell membrane, keeping a collection of genes and proteins inside it then I do not see a reason to doubt thier explanation. Remember, single cell does not mean single biological component.

HOLY COWBELL THIS IS INSANE!!!!
these single celled organisms exceed 4 inches!!!!!! WTF WTF WTF! Just when you watched the entire series of 'Planet Earth', thinking you know so much about Earth... this is discovered! This planet is so amazing, we have so much to learn and discover! Also, these extremophiles "can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury and are thus likely resistant to large doses of heavy metals." What amazing news, makes the possibility of life in the Universe rise substantially! Wonder what alien species are like?!!
Learning is the greatest reason to why were here. Discoveries like these, make me so happy to be human!!!

BTW, some of you are bashing astronomy way to hard. Yes we don't know much about our planet. Hell, we know less about the Universe, but with astronomy we can understand where we (or really the first molecules of life) came from and what created the planet. Besides, if you really think about it... all subjects of science are one single entity, they are intertwined with one another. So to say we need to get our heads out of the galaxies is a rediculous concept because learning is learning... no matter what. If it wasn't for the first time I saw a picture of the Orion Nebula, I would have never became interested in science!

Originally posted by TrueBrit
I would say that depends on how good the cameras were wouldnt you ?

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.

But it's difficult to evaluate the claim, because did you notice that they don't have any picture in the article? Well they have a picture, but not of the organism the article is about. So if they would show us a picture and we could see what it looks like, the claim might be easier to evaluate.

How can they NOT show the picture, but instead show something else???????? Such a disappointment.

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
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.

Answer to your last question: the United States national budget for 2007 totals about $2.784 trillion. spending on NASA was $16.143 billion, so if you divide the NASA budget by the national budget it comes out to 0.58%.
0.58% of the national budget is spent on NASA. It's about 12% of spending on academic scientific research in the United States.
Oh, and here is a list of ways NASA aided the world:
Satellite television
Firefighter breathing apparatus
Greenliving (solar panels)
Baby food
Braces (for Teeth)
Heart surgery
Life support for patients
Improved air quality
Mine-clearing technology
The personal alarm system
Eye screening (detects eye problems)
Scratch-resistant Lenses
Ear Thermometer
Long-distance Telecommunications
Smoke detectors
cordless vaccums
Water filters
Here is 50 other things NASA has done
www.independent.co.uk...

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!

Hubris? Banality? How do you come to the conclusion that ANY scientific pursuit is haughty or trivial? Why must space exploration and exploration of this planet be mutually exclusive in your mind? Must all of our great minds focus on the below and disregard the above? I'm all for any new findings whether terrestrial or otherwise as they are both capable of increasing my understanding of this enigma that we call existence.