Another extremophile: radiophile fungus

[h2ouniverse]

We knew about radiation-hard Deinococcus Radiodurans. But now, "radiation-eating" fungi! Metabolizing radiations? If not overhyped, that would be another blatant evidence that whenever it can, life makes its way.<br />In that case we should be cautious when declaring a planetary surface "sterile" just because it is exposed to radiations. All iced bodies beneath the frost line are concerned, including Mars... <br /><br />http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070529_fungus_radiation.html

 

[docm]

Or as my father used to say: "never say never <i>or</i> impossible".<br /><br />The old man was pretty sharp, but then he was a farmer <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[brellis]

man, from now on, whatever you say, whether i agree with it, like it or not -- you jumped off the Tower of the Americas before they had a name for it. your dad says "x" , i'm going along with it, no matter what! you say, "let's eat some radiophile fungus and see if it immunizes us from things like Jupiter's radiation so we can undertake a manned Europa mission" -- i'm there! <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[docm]

I'll be the first to admit that was a profoundly stupid stunt given the gear of the day and my lack of experience, but it has been fun explaining that pic to our kids.<br /><br />As for my dad; the older I get the more I realize how smart he was. Maybe not in <i>formal</i> book learning, life and WWII got in the way of that, but he had common sense by the truck load and read most every time he stopped moving. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[brellis]

<font color="yellow">As for my dad; the older I get the more I realize how smart he was. Maybe not in formal book learning, life and WWII got in the way of that, but he had common sense by the truck load and read most every time he stopped moving.</font><br /><br />My dad passed away a couple of years ago. Since then, my respect for him has soared. It's not that I didn't respect him while he was alive; as I've assumed some of his tasks around the house, I'm just blown away how organized he was, how much forethought he put to things that would have to be done years off, storing the necessary tools in place for the moment in the future when he might not be alive anymore.<br /><br />WWII got in the way of my dad's education too. He went to night school for years, amassing enough credits for three different bachelor's degrees.<br /><br />I'm a musician. My job is to organize sound. I often have to plan ahead and think ahead to make an arrangement or a performance great. The rest of my life is pure chaos. My dad was loudly "unmusical". He played JP Sousa marches that annoyed everyone.<br /><br />It wasn't until after he passed away that I realized the intellectuality he passed on to me that manifests itself every day in my music.<br /><br />Your stunt required planning, risk assessment, and the balls of an extremophile <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />. I have done musical performances that many would consider the equivalent of a BASE jump in terms of peril and risk of complete disaster.<br /><br />btw, I think any successful farmer must have a broad and complex education in the "real world", whether it comes from books or not. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

Brellis and Docm,<br />While you are on that topic:<br />Just to tell you my two kids sleep quietly on first floor. No gestapo raids disturbing their sleep. They will go to school tomorrow. When 18, if they drive North, they will pass by the giant graveyard of Verdun, the remnants of Maginot and Siegfried lines, cross the Rhine without even noticing it [just a blue panel "Deutschland"], and go finishing their studies wherever they want, several open borders away. Like tens of millions on this continent, without having to sacrifice their education to fight the kind of wars generations used to fight. For the first time ever in millenia of History. <br /><br />Thanks to what you call the "golden generation" in the US. Thanks to your dads. <br /><br />Life makes its way in harsh conditions, thanks to organisms smarter than what they look like. Same for knowledge.

 

[docm]

reikel: My father called those scientists etc. overly dedicated to the conventional wisdom based on fractional data "college educated idiots" <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />H2Ouniverse: While thanking our dads also remember my father-in-law Neil; who's name we gave to Erik as his middle name in his honor.<br /><br />Neil entered the Marines as soon as he could after Pearl Harbor. He fought his way across the Pacific in the island hopping campaign, including all the hot spots we've seen in the movies. <br /><br />After WWII he came home and married his sweetheart since age 12; Virginia, only to leave again to fight in Korea. Same kind of valor.<br /><br />After Korea he came home and fathered 2 kids; Jim and my wife Margaret.<br /><br />Service continued to be part of his life; he became a firefighter. Neil worked his way up the ranks, risking his life more times than I can count or remember, eventually becoming a Fire Marshall and later a Fire Chief. <br /><br />He was also a Mason whose main activity was their Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 pediatric non-profit hospitals across North America that provide <i><b>all care at no charge</b></i>.<br /><br />City planning commission? Yup. Charities? By the dozen.<br /><br />I swear the man could eat nails, but he also had a huge degree of compassion.<br /><br />We lost him to lung cancer in 2003. His numerous smoke inhalations probably had a lot to do with it. To the end Neil was 200% United States Marine; rarely complaining or even acknowledging he felt ill. <br /><br />Talk about heroes? Neil I. Prieskorn is still one of mine. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

Difficult to keep up with that generation.<br />Because they made our life easier, we know less what we really have in the b..elly. That is the paradox. <br />