Hardy Martian bacteria nick-named 'CONAN' by scientists

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6191197.stm

A handful of bacteria on Earth today have the ability to survive exposure to extremely high levels of radiation that would kill other organisms ... A team of scientists argues that the bugs could only have evolved this unusual ability on a planet like Mars.

If these Martian meteorites contained any life forms able to survive the journey, they might have been able to gain a foothold on our own planet, scientists speculate.

The best-studied radiation-resistant microbe is Deinococcus radiodurans.

It can withstand several thousand times the lethal dose of radiation for humans, and has been nicknamed "Conan the bacterium" by microbiologists.

D. radiodurans and other radiation-resistant bacteria survive because they are very efficient at repairing their DNA. But this is also useful for surviving extreme desiccation in arid environments.
It that's the case, wouldn't a more appropriate name perhaps be... WOLVERINE the bacterium? I know it's not as catchy but still... I couldn't resist pointing out the failures of other, more highly-qualified nerds.

Speaking of nerds, does this whole process remind anyone else of LAVOS? :troll:
 

SaiyajinNoOuji

I'm still better than you
Well we ether have a case of the Symbiont ala Spider Man...

The Blob..

Or

Lavos...


I'd rather have Lavos or the Symbiont. At least with the Symbiont there is a chance that one of us could get changed to a super hero/villain although we could turn a bit emo.
 
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