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Old 05-12-2011, 10:29 PM
 
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Biologists Announce Discovery of an Entirely New Branch of Life | Popular Science

Quote:
A group of mysterious microscopic organisms related to fungus are actually so different that they make up their own kind of fungal group. Another way to say that: there are so many of these distinctly different kinds of organisms living in so many diverse places, that the biodiversity among this new group might be as vast as the entire known fungal kingdom. In fact, they might not actually be fungi at all.
Just goes to show there are still many things on this yet undiscovered and who knows how much was lost in the past do to deforestation and other ecosystem killers.
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Old 05-12-2011, 11:17 PM
 
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Who knows how much life was destroyed over the past two million years due to volcanoes, tectonic plate shift, floods, meteors and comets.

Not to mention the recent ice ages.

But just think of the new life forms we'll encounter when we start to explore our galaxy.
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Old 05-13-2011, 07:17 AM
 
1,402 posts, read 3,490,083 times
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Originally Posted by plwhit View Post
Who knows how much life was destroyed over the past two million years due to volcanoes, tectonic plate shift, floods, meteors and comets.

Not to mention the recent ice ages.

But just think of the new life forms we'll encounter when we start to explore our galaxy.

I think the estimate is that something like 99.9% of the total number of species that populated earth at one time or another are now extinct.

Kinda funny you bring up the possibility of humans starting to explore the galaxy...that is a HUGE assumption that we as a species are going to beat that 99.9% "failure rate" and be here long enough to make it to point where we start to explore the galaxy. I guess our arrogance as a species knows no bounds!
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Old 05-13-2011, 10:56 AM
 
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Originally Posted by broadbill View Post
I think the estimate is that something like 99.9% of the total number of species that populated earth at one time or another are now extinct.

Kinda funny you bring up the possibility of humans starting to explore the galaxy...that is a HUGE assumption that we as a species are going to beat that 99.9% "failure rate" and be here long enough to make it to point where we start to explore the galaxy. I guess our arrogance as a species knows no bounds!
When I see a fossil of a dinosaur rocketship, I'll take that last statement seriously...
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Old 05-13-2011, 11:00 AM
 
Location: Fairfax
2,904 posts, read 6,892,968 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by broadbill View Post
I think the estimate is that something like 99.9% of the total number of species that populated earth at one time or another are now extinct.

Kinda funny you bring up the possibility of humans starting to explore the galaxy...that is a HUGE assumption that we as a species are going to beat that 99.9% "failure rate" and be here long enough to make it to point where we start to explore the galaxy. I guess our arrogance as a species knows no bounds!
If arrogance means having a thirst for exploration then I hope we become even more arrogant.
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Old 05-13-2011, 11:50 AM
 
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You both missed my point....I guess that is my fault.

My point was that its kind of amusing that we assume that we'll be around long enough to be exploring the galaxy, when the odds are that we'll be going the way of 99.9% of the species that walked the earth at one point or another (fossils ourselves).

Exploring the galaxy seems a bit far off when we are still struggling with a reliable way to get off of this rock.
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Old 05-13-2011, 12:01 PM
 
Location: SW Missouri
15,853 posts, read 34,999,650 times
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Originally Posted by rgomez912 View Post
Biologists Announce Discovery of an Entirely New Branch of Life | Popular Science



Just goes to show there are still many things on this yet undiscovered and who knows how much was lost in the past do to deforestation and other ecosystem killers.
While philosophers contend that everything upon the earth has an impact upon everything else - I still can't help but wonder why I should care about a family of species similar to a fungi. Oh, yes, yes, yes, it might be the cure for cancer and all that.

The fact of the matter is that BAZILLIONS of species have gone extinct throughout the eons of time without so much as a nod from humanity. There is nothing to prove that deforestation or other "ecosystem killers" as you put it had anything to do with it.

But I digress. Goodie, we now know we have more fungus-like things. How does that improve anyone's life directly?

20yrsinBranson
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:11 PM
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
15,395 posts, read 22,435,561 times
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Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson View Post
While philosophers contend that everything upon the earth has an impact upon everything else - I still can't help but wonder why I should care about a family of species similar to a fungi. Oh, yes, yes, yes, it might be the cure for cancer and all that.

The fact of the matter is that BAZILLIONS of species have gone extinct throughout the eons of time without so much as a nod from humanity. There is nothing to prove that deforestation or other "ecosystem killers" as you put it had anything to do with it.

But I digress. Goodie, we now know we have more fungus-like things. How does that improve anyone's life directly?

20yrsinBranson
That's a rather negative and toxic post. More appropriate for the POC Forum than a serious intellectual response in our Science/Technology Forum.

Anyway without all the "low life" critters as you would refer to them.....such as bacteria etcetera; you and I would not be alive.....our digestive systems would not function correctly.

And since we all share genetic material with fungi and evolved along with their descendants we owe our existence to them AND NOT the other way around.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste!
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Old 05-14-2011, 09:22 AM
 
Location: SW Missouri
15,853 posts, read 34,999,650 times
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Originally Posted by PITTSTON2SARASOTA View Post
That's a rather negative and toxic post. More appropriate for the POC Forum than a serious intellectual response in our Science/Technology Forum.

Anyway without all the "low life" critters as you would refer to them.....such as bacteria etcetera; you and I would not be alive.....our digestive systems would not function correctly.

And since we all share genetic material with fungi and evolved along with their descendants we owe our existence to them AND NOT the other way around.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste!
And intellectual hubris is so unattractive.

20yrsinBranson
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Old 05-14-2011, 10:42 AM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,618 posts, read 86,571,713 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson View Post

But I digress. Goodie, we now know we have more fungus-like things. How does that improve anyone's life directly?

20yrsinBranson
Are you assuming that nothing in the universe has any meaning, except to the degree that it affects Homo sapiens, and when man and his planet and galaxy cease to exist, the universe will then spin out the remainder of eternity in abject meaningless futility?

Or are you assuming that human knowledge and understanding have no intrinsic value unless there is an immediately recognizable application, and that learning is useless if it does not deliver instant gratification?
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