9 December 2012

Life without oxygen and light (update)

Bacteria have been found in water encapsulated in an antartic ice lake.
The water is deep beneath a 12 meter thick ice crust where light can't reach it and there's no oxygen.
It has been isolated from the outside world for several thousands of years.
The temperature is -13°C and the water is six times as salt as seawater.
The bacteria have a very slow metabolism and take 120 years to reproduce.
The discovery was made by boffins of Chicago University and the Nevada Desert Research Institute (wonder how these guys got lost in Antarctica).
More...

29 November 2012

They need a them
So they'll have an us
The Walkabouts - They are not like us

17 November 2012

I'm a lesbian trapped inside a man's body.
Douglas Coupland -  Generation X

10 November 2012

En hij deed zijn mond open, 
zijn zwarte mond. 
Maar hij zei niets.
Want hij was dood.

Karel van de Woestijne - De oude boer die sterft

5 November 2012

School leavers should not accept underqualified jobs

Research at Ghent University shows that school leavers should be patient and selective when looking for a job.
If someone has been looking out for a job for two months refuses a job below his qualifications, he tends to get an offer for a job that matches his qualifications within a month.
If the same person accepts the underqualified job, it tends to take 10 years before he gets a job (and salary- at this level.
The longer one searches for work, the more he should be ready to accept other jobs. Applicants that have been searching for a year, have a less than 50% chance of finding a job at  their level within the next year.

24 October 2012


19 October 2012

Mass extinction events


Earth has undergone mass extinctions, during which more than 75% of existing species disappear, exactly five times in the past 540 million years.

  • Ordovician, 443 million years ago.
    86% of all species lost.
    Some possible causes: Waxing and waning ice ages; rise of the Appalachians affecting atmospheric and ocean chemistry.
  • Devonian, 359 million years ago.
    75% of all species lost.
    Some possible causes: Global cooling, followed by global warming, tied to new plants evolving and decrease in carbon dioxide; possibly meteor strikes as well. 
  • Permian, 251 million years ago. 96% of all species lost.
    Some possible causes: Siberian volcanoes; increased carbon dioxide levels; global warming; an asteroid or meteor strike. 
  • Triassic, 200 million years ago. Lasted 5 million years
    80% of all species lost.
    Possible cause: Volcanic activity caused by the breakup of the mega-continent Pangaea led to a rise in carbon dioxide levels and increased global temperatures.
  • Cretaceous, 65 million years ago.
    76% of species lost, including the dinosaurs.
    Possible causes: Asteroid strike in the Yucatan led to global cataclysm and rapid global cooling.