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05-31-2006, 02:21 PM | #1 |
Radical Centrist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
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5/31/2006: New species found
First posted on the Cellar by elspode, thanks spode! Picture this: a team is digging in a rock quarry in the middle of Israel, drilling into a kind of chalk that's impervious to water. Maybe they're trying to figure out what's down there, what kind of resources are available in the quarry. 100 meters down, they reach a layer of... nothing. It's a cave. And it's massive: 2.5 kilometers long, 100 meters deep. With a huge lake - expected, because the cave happened when the water eroded away limestone between layers of chalk where the water didn't erode. And it's been completely sealed off from the outside world... for ages and ages... perhaps millions of years... until the drill went through its roof. Found so far are eight new, previously unknown species of beast, including the scorpion-like being. Who knows how this species first got into this little, cut-off system. Perhaps there was a time, 100,000 years ago, when the cave was closer to ground and a nest of burrowing scorpions dug into the cave. But during its time there, it has gone through evolutionary changes. Since there's never been light in the cave, it's blind, and it has little to no coloration. Maybe there are scary bacteria bacteria that can kill us! But maybe they'd be killed by sunlight. Who knows, but it makes me want to be a spelunking evolutionary zoologist/bacteriologist. Or maybe not. |
05-31-2006, 02:27 PM | #2 |
Slattern of the Swail
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 15,654
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How come when they go finding new species it's never a unicorn or pegasus-like creature, but a gross, yucky thing like that?
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In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum |
05-31-2006, 02:33 PM | #3 |
I think this line's mostly filler.
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I suspect it would be more likely that the drill let in the scary bacteria to kill them. Larger ecosystems breed scarier critters, in general.
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_________________ |...............| We live in the nick of times. | Len 17, Wid 3 | |_______________| [pics] |
05-31-2006, 03:09 PM | #4 |
still eats dirt
Join Date: Sep 2003
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I hope they're tasty with butter.
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05-31-2006, 03:17 PM | #5 | |
in the Hour of Scampering
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Quote:
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"Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..." |
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05-31-2006, 03:40 PM | #6 |
Radical Centrist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
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Because they evolve in the dark, acidic hell-holes of the real world, instead of the glorious fantasy world that only exists in your imagination.
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05-31-2006, 03:43 PM | #7 | |
™
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Quote:
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05-31-2006, 03:55 PM | #8 |
Hand-of-Kindness Extender
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Always glatt. Always.
I love this kind of thing. Means that we are a few steps away from something huge. If you can find eight new species digging in a quarry, well, there is a quarry down the street....
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05-31-2006, 04:04 PM | #9 | |
in the Hour of Scampering
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Quote:
Anybody who's been present at a birthing or an autopsy has seen evidence of this.
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"Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..." |
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05-31-2006, 04:06 PM | #10 |
twatfaced two legged bumhole
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Wonder what would be discovered here?
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05-31-2006, 04:32 PM | #11 | |
A serene breakdown
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Whatever it is, it ain't kosher.
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05-31-2006, 04:34 PM | #12 | |
in the Hour of Scampering
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Quote:
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"Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..." |
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05-31-2006, 04:41 PM | #13 |
some guy.
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in related news...
we have successfully wiped out 7... no, wait... there it is, make that 8 new species within 36 hours of their discovery. It's a new world record folks! |
05-31-2006, 05:04 PM | #14 |
The future is unwritten
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Why? Were they Palestinian critters?
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05-31-2006, 06:27 PM | #15 |
You're just jealous 'cause the little voices talk to me
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This so tickles my archaeology bone, it makes me want to take the first flight to Israel and go look myself.
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