31–40 of 71 posts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgspUYDwnzQ
It seems they point to a group of bacteria living under Siberian Permafrost for the past half million years. As the video also points out; not in suspended animation, they're rather alive and repairing themselves.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe also discussed the 80,000 year old clonal tree in a recent episode (I think the latest?). http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu
Another Skeptic's Guide listener on HN! I've posted various comments linking to SGU segments or Steven Novella posts, but I have yet to see anyone else do so.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe also discussed the 80,000 year old clonal tree in a recent episode (I think the latest?). http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu
Another Skeptic's Guide listener on HN! I've posted various comments linking to SGU segments or Steven Novella posts, but I have yet to see anyone else do so.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We're arguably the least cavalier about taking life of any life on earth. In the wild, life is so cheap and valueless that when we witness unspeakable acts of horrific wild violence, we have to condition it: wild is wild, nature is nature, human expectations and morality don't apply.
> We're arguably the least cavalier about taking life of any life on earth. Fungi beat us in this respect. Most of them feed exclusively on dead matter.
Can long-living organisms, or hard-coded behavior across generations of short-lived organisms, be used to transfer data or preserve knowledge across incredible stretches of time?
For example, the rings within trees that live for thousands of years.
Or, the elaborate art made by creatures like the Japanese Puffer Fish. [0]
How cavalier we are about taking life of other species.
I've been under the impression for many years that the oldest living organism on the planet was the giant underground fungus in Oregon. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-... It seems to have the title of "largest" locked down, but it's a viable contender for "oldest" as well. It's at least worth a mention anyway.
I think clonal colonies like Pando are some of the the oldest LARGE organisms. But can one say they are organisms? Probably a few rotifers and tardigrades are the oldest organisms since they can lie dormant for many years and then be reanimated with water. Perhaps millions of years!!!
> "Humongous Fungus", an individual of the fungal species Armillaria solidipes in the Malheur National Forest, is thought to be between 2,000 and 8,500 years old.[33][34] It is thought to be the world's largest organism by area, at 2,384 acres (965 hectares).
So it may be the oldest organism, but it also has the crown for largest.
A related question which has always intrigued me: Can long-living organisms, or hard-coded behavior across generations of short-lived organisms, be used to transfer data or preserve knowledge across incredible stretches of time? For example, the rings within trees that live for thousands of years. Or, the elaborate art made by creatures like the Japanese Puffer Fish. [0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1PID91sEW…
Its surprisingly difficult data to find and the rate probably varies a lot, but wikipedia claims:
"The human germline mutation rate is approximately 0.5×10−9 per basepair per year"
My RAID array does better, polaroid pictures somewhat worse, etc.
A bit error rate of 1e-9/yr is something that can be worked around over a lifespan but probably not over a million years.