手机APP下载

您现在的位置: 首页 > 在线广播 > 科学美国人 > 科学美国人科学系列 > 正文

科学美国人60秒:研究人员发现能喷射甲烷的生物生活在极端环境里

来源:可可英语 编辑:aimee   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet
  


手机扫描二维码查看全部内容
zeZ0a#2GHvOL8h

qTWPCmy55.90*T

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
The first life on Earth appeared about four billion years ago. One place these pioneering organisms may have emerged is at hydrothermal vents, deep underwater. Where unusual chemistry provided energy for primitive life-forms to survive. Life-forms like the methane-belching microbes found at the vents today.
Now, for the first time, researchers have found evidence of methane-producing life in similarly extreme conditions, but at the surface of the Earth — at a spring in northern California, called The Cedars. The water there is extremely basic — with a pH of 11.6. And it contains no oxygen. Not an easy place to survive.
Researchers tested water and sediment at the Cedars. Some samples got dosed with mercuric chloride to kill any life present. Those dosed samples produced no methane. But the samples in which microbes were allowed to survive did put out methane. Confirming that at least some of the methane at the springs is indeed biological in origin. The findings appear in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.

ATCVqsFTp|Z2

甲烷.jpg

Z7G6ZiUiF9

The finding has implications for climate change alleviation. A geologically similar spring in Oman has been proposed as a site for carbon storage—pumping CO2 underground, where it gets incorporated in stone. But the extremophiles at The Cedars can use CO2 to make methane—an even more potent greenhouse gas. "So imagine pumping CO2 into the ground and having it come back up as methane." Penny Morrill, a biogeochemist at Memorial University of Newfoundland. "This will not necessarily happen, but it is something to be tested for before fully implementing a carbon capture and storage technology at one of these types of sites."
Morrill says the study's also a reminder that life is tenacious. "We should not let our biases prevent us from looking for evidence of life in what we would otherwise consider an unexpected place." Including other planets and moons.
Thanks for listening Scientific American - 60-Second Science Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

J8uT=5]wXu94

kR)#s;B7Wa.5NX3JC4Piacn)u,9)70!!dx.nJmd+lm

重点单词   查看全部解释    
unexpected ['ʌnik'spektid]

想一想再看

adj. 想不到的,意外的

 
prevent [pri'vent]

想一想再看

v. 预防,防止

联想记忆
greenhouse ['gri:nhaus]

想一想再看

n. 温室,暖房

 
extremely [iks'tri:mli]

想一想再看

adv. 极其,非常

联想记忆
primitive ['primitiv]

想一想再看

adj. 原始的
n. 原始人,文艺复兴前的艺

联想记忆
capture ['kæptʃə]

想一想再看

vt. 捕获,俘获,夺取,占领,迷住,(用照片等)留存<

联想记忆
storage ['stɔridʒ]

想一想再看

n. 贮藏,存储,保管,保管费,仓库,[计]存储器

 
unusual [ʌn'ju:ʒuəl]

想一想再看

adj. 不平常的,异常的

联想记忆
survive [sə'vaiv]

想一想再看

vt. 比 ... 活得长,幸免于难,艰难度过

联想记忆
reminder [ri'maində]

想一想再看

n. 提醒物,提示

 

发布评论我来说2句

    最新文章

    可可英语官方微信(微信号:ikekenet)

    每天向大家推送短小精悍的英语学习资料.

    添加方式1.扫描上方可可官方微信二维码。
    添加方式2.搜索微信号ikekenet添加即可。