Professional Fasters Deep Under the Sea Floor

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A freshly drilled core arrives on deck. Gas masks protect the scientists on the research ship quotJoides Resolutionquot from rising hydrogen sulphide. Image: ODP Leg 201 Shipboard Scientific Party
A freshly drilled core arrives on deck. Gas masks protect the scientists on the research ship "Joides Resolution" from rising hydrogen sulphide. Image: ODP Leg 201 Shipboard Scientific Party

An international team of researchers from the USA and Germany has published an explanation for life in the Deep Biosphere in the magazine Science. Using a bunch of the latest technologies from biogeochemistry, molecular biology and microbiology, the scientists collected a wide range of samples from the bottom of the sea. After intensive analysis, Bo B. Jorgensen and Steven D'Hondt have now published a model with which they explain that microorganisms might survive due to the natural radioactivity deep under the sea floor.


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All News summaries for December 05, 2006

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