From: Thomas Buckner (tcbevolver@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Jan 26 2005 - 17:58:38 MST
--- Brian Atkins <brian@posthuman.com> wrote:
> I was thinking that at first when I wrote my
> post above, but then I
> remembered all sorts of shows I've seen on PBS,
> etc. where you have
> scientists roaming about in caves and other
> places looking for new forms
> of life. And then they invariably seem to bring
> their samples back for
> examination to some dinky looking lab which
> looks nothing like what I
> imagine a high safety lab would look like. So
> there is some disconnect
> here, or I'm missing something.
If the cave is on Mt. Elgon, they might be very
careful because that's the general area Ebola
virus seems to be from (its natural source has
never been identified). Otherwise, why take
precautions over some scraping that is already
'on the loose'? I am given to understand that
most Earth life, not only numerically but by
mass, is microorganisms; in an article on methane
hydrates, I read of a ship scooping a big sample
(half a ton, I think) of muck from the ocean
floor, and it was 95% bacteria. Not dirt, not
mud, living matter.
Tom Buckner
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