First Biological Evidence of a Supernova: Remains of Exploding Star Discovered in Bacteria

Found another news article on supernovas. Apparently, scientists have discovered the first biological evidence of a supernova. And it most likely was in our cosmic neighborhood, so it would have been an awesome sight to see.

It's pretty amazing that an event so distant, actually had an impact on Earth, and even on living organisms.

I wonder if certain extinction events were caused by supernovas, or gamma-ray bursts. Sounds just as plausible as extinctions caused by asteroids.

Evidence of an exploding star, known as a supernova, is usually found in space in the form of luminous bursts of radiation and clouds of interstellar gas. Yet now, researchers have found that fossil remains also hold clues to supernovas in the form of the remains of iron-loving bacteria. The findings are the first to show that there can be biological evidence of a supernova.

These iron-loving bacteria are called magnetotatic bacteria and live within the sediments of Earth's oceans, close to the water-sediment interface. There, they make hundreds of tiny crystals of magnetite within their cells. In order to obtain iron to create these crystals, the bacteria actually utilize atmospheric dust that enters the ocean. This unique property is what provided the evidence for a supernova.

www.scienceworldreport.com...

A link to the Past? Interesting!

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity


What a great find...we are made of stardust it is true.
Amazing to have a record of it in bacterial form..Maybe one day they will be able to say which supernova it was and when it left the traces in bacteria..
Heres a good wiki page on the history of supernova observation through history,I found this part interesting:

The supernova explosion that formed the Vela Supernova Remnant most likely occurred 10,000–20,000 years ago.
In 1976, NASA astronomers suggested that inhabitants of the southern hemisphere may have witnessed this explosion and recorded it symbolically.
A year later, archaeologist George Michanowsky recalled some incomprehensible ancient markings in Bolivia that were left by Native Americans.
The carvings showed four small circles flanked by two larger circles. The smaller circles resemble stellar groupings in the constellations Vela and Carina. One of the larger circles may represent the star Capella. Another circle is located near the position of the supernova remnant, George Michanowsky suggested this may represent the supernova explosion as witnessed by the indigenous residents.
In 185 CE, Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance of a bright star in the sky, and observed that it took about eight months to fade from the sky.
It was observed to sparkle like a star and did not move across the heavens like a comet. These observations are consistent with the appearance of a supernova, and this is believed to be the oldest confirmed record of a supernova event by humankind. SN 185 may have also possibly been recorded in Roman literature, though no records have survived.
The gaseous shell RCW 86 is suspected as being the remnant of this event, and recent X-ray studies show a good match for the expected age.

en.wikipedia.org...

Interesting stuff indeed,and you are right about the dangers-if a nearby star went supernova,we would be fried to dust.
And chillingly,we would get a certain amount of notice as the wave of gamma/x rays travelled through space towards us...