This 830-million-year-old crystal might contain life. And we're about to open it

[tn1911]

This 830-million-year-old crystal might contain life. And we're about to open it

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1100972368/830-million-year-old-salt-crystal-microscopic-life-study-discovery

From lemons to ham, salt is a handy food preservative. But researchers studying some really old salt crystals found them preserving something else — evidence of life.

"There are little cubes of the original liquid from which that salt grew. And the surprise for us is that we also saw shapes that are consistent with what we would expect from microorganisms," said Kathy Benison, a geologist at West Virginia University. "And they could be still surviving within that 830-million-year-old preserved microhabitat."

The salt crystals (aka halite) that Benison and her team studied were originally found in central Australia. Benison was part of the team that published these findings in the journal Geology.

This video of a different salt crystal shows how the liquid looks when moving inside.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbCcta4wMXo

[Diamondback]

What could possibly go wrong? /sarc

[fred]

What could possibly go wrong? /sarc

That is exactly what I was thinking while reading it... Some stuff were OK not knowing!

Between the deep think AI that is transcending the human brain, US and Russia casually threatening nuclear war, and now this pre-prehistoric "life" they want to set free, it's like humanity is sick of this shit and just want to end it all.

[FriendlyStranger]

Enhydros or fluid inclusions are pretty cool. I've always wondered if there was one that did contain bacteria or viruses. I agree probably not a good idea to open one up now.


https://youtu.be/0-tOGe_DJ8I

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/59/67/d7/5967d7b696415ce3e1a4b0c84707eafd.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhydro_agate

Hydrothermal ore minerals, which typically form from high temperature aqueous solutions, trap tiny bubbles of liquids or gases when cooling and forming solid rock. The trapped fluid in an inclusion preserves a record of the composition, temperature and pressure of the mineralizing environment.

[SteyrAUG]

I'm sure it wasn't responsible for the Precambrian and Vendian Mass Extinction events, go ahead.

[FriendlyStranger]

Another explanation for mass extinction and the creation of crystals:


https://youtu.be/Pt6NscQ2qS8

Genesis 6:7 And the Lord said, I will destroy

Psalms 147:18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

Psalm 97

4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

[SteyrAUG]

And another thread spackled in shit.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Ancient crystal, found in Australia where everything wants to kill you….

[Ron3]

And another thread spackled in shit.

:laugh: yup! *Splat!*

I say open the crystals. It's not like humans aren't going to nuke themselves eventually anyway.

Humanity is a bucket of crabs.

[THCDDM4]

I collected crystals and minerals most of my life. Mined a lot then from the earth myself.

I have a Herkimer Diamond that has a water/carbon/oxygen inclusion.

I always thought it was cool that its had the building blocks of life trapped inside for so long

It’ll be interesting to see what if anything they find alive or traces of something once living in there after 830 million years.

[FriendlyStranger]

:laugh: yup! *Splat!*

I say open the crystals. It's not like humans aren't going to nuke themselves eventually anyway.

Humanity is a bucket of crabs.

Science I don't like is shit simply because I don't like it.

[FriendlyStranger]

I collected crystals and minerals most of my life. Mined a lot then from the earth myself.

I have a Herkimer Diamond that has a water/carbon/oxygen inclusion.

I always thought it was cool that its had the building blocks of life trapped inside for so long

It’ll be interesting to see what if anything they find alive or traces of something once living in there after 830 million years.

Nice. I just got into rock-hounding not too long ago. The crystal collector helped me find this spot. Haven't found any large titanite pieces yet only small ones and gemmy green fluorapatite. Interesting that some crystals are only found in certain parts of the world.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuknJcPy0ec

[Tanner]

Seeing this post, the movie Venom came to mind for some reason :-)

[FriendlyStranger]

Seeing this post, the movie Venom came to mind for some reason :-)

Titanite crystal I found at that location in the video. The titanite crystal hasn't fully enveloped the host rock.

https://i.ibb.co/QMBkRnb/Titanite.png

[Caduceus]

That is exactly what I was thinking while reading it... Some stuff were OK not knowing!

Between the deep think AI that is transcending the human brain, US and Russia casually threatening nuclear war, and now this pre-prehistoric "life" they want to set free, it's like humanity is sick of this shit and just want to end it all.
I'm not to worried about it.

Stuck in a salty brine for 830 million years? How many generations has that potential life been there? Think about how it's had to adapt over time for that micro climate.

Then, bam! Oxygen and air and sunlight... it would be like taking one of us and dropping us into molten uranium, just totally something we aren't able to survive.

[SteyrAUG]

I'm not to worried about it.

Stuck in a salty brine for 830 million years? How many generations has that potential life been there? Think about how it's had to adapt over time for that micro climate.

Then, bam! Oxygen and air and sunlight... it would be like taking one of us and dropping us into molten uranium, just totally something we aren't able to survive.

I don't think anyone is "real world" concerned, but given the fact that we are potentially separated by 5 massive extinction events, IF there is some kind of microbial life it could do us dirty just as easily as it might find the current environment unsustainable. But generally bacteria, viruses and the like tend to be more durable than complex life forms. Crap we left on the moon lived in that environment for years.

But I still think most of us aren't seriously worried.