Rotifers - Just add water!

These organisms can experience the harshest conditions, yet amazingly still come back to life by just adding water; and they have many other interesting features as well!

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Picture of Emuyen30 achievements

+32 1. Emuyen commented 14 years ago

Nature is just amazing! :O
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+18 2. Fayfoot commented 14 years ago

EMMM lET us lunch a water rocket to the moon and see what happens :(|)
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+20 3. player1 commented 14 years ago

#(removed comment) if you do that they'l take some of your DNA and then there will be to manny clever basterds in the world :D
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+9 4. shayangx commented 14 years ago

Lol I've always imagined first alian contact. This would be kinda dissapointing to be the first haha :p
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+6 5. Mitak commented 14 years ago

Great they are getting DNA from everything around them. So after earth is wiped of all life, they will kind of restart it when the conditions are right. 8-)
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+8 6. Searinox commented 14 years ago

Nature is indeed awesome, though I personally think that water is just Tellus' basic life provider. However, in other galaxies they might have other liquids that they're made up of, it doesn't have to be water. Still, very interesting short doc!
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-19 7. Clever-Bastard commented 14 years ago

#(removed comment) said "I am thinking..."

Hold it right there USADumber1.

Unbelievable! ROFLMFAO :D
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-12 8. Baboon commented 14 years ago

if you have a tiny penis, pour water on it it will revive :P
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+7 9. firest4rter commented 14 years ago

very interesting. the tiniest organism on the earth is probably the toughest out there
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+5 10. Voutelamberopipi commented 14 years ago

#8 tks for the tip... you know, just the tip
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+6 11. manro commented 14 years ago

If I was Rotifer I would prefer beer. >:)
But interesting vid.
Would be a nice topic for SF novel.
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+10 12. Emuyen commented 14 years ago

is #(removed comment) collecting an achievment as "add the most stupid comments" =
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-14 13. Clever-Bastard commented 14 years ago

I don't collect achievements.
I'll leave that to witless idiots such as yourself.
Your achievements page looks very impressive. ROFLMFAO :D
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+6 14. Baboon commented 14 years ago

#10 it seems that you are concerned :P
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+5 15. gendarme commented 14 years ago

Life is nature's way of keeping meat fresh! :(|)
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+7 16. BMX_Tavi commented 14 years ago

just great!!!!! science day on snotr:D
really now...snotr should add a favourite button
i would definitely /fav this one!!!
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+2 17. TheIsingGuy commented 14 years ago

can they survive my hammer
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+5 18. Thanny commented 14 years ago

The really interesting thing about Bdelloid Rotifers is that they are asexual, and have been for millions of years.

Normally, when a species drops sex, it goes extinct after a short while, for a number of reasons centered on a lack of genetic diversity.

It seems the rotifers escape this fate much like bacteria do - taking genes from the environment to try on for size.

I've seen elsewhere, too, that their little drying-up trick helps them combat a particularly pernicious fungus. After a couple weeks without water, the rotifers remain viable, but the fungus dies completely. Without that trick, the fungus is almost 100% fatal.
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+3 19. BabyJLE commented 14 years ago

Wow... but they could never survive against Chuck Norris
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+6 20. irishgek commented 14 years ago

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+2 21. Leodan commented 14 years ago

Wow. And I thought Bear Grylls was tough.
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+3 22. TarasFromLviv commented 14 years ago

So, let's add water to dinosaur bones! 8-)
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+2 23. banzemanga commented 14 years ago

Ok, now let's go to Egipt and add water to those dried mummies and call the back to live! >:)
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+1 24. pana_mio commented 14 years ago

At 03:57 I thought it was a coca-cola :D
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+3 25. Rykimaruh commented 14 years ago

Studying the smallest organism is always a great step into understanding and applying science. Some of these specimen have qualities no other creature(including ourselves) have in our dna. Good video
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+3 26. c0mmanderKeen commented 14 years ago

and this is why I study biology :)

#(removed comment) Really too generalized. Also the theory you mention doesnt really make sense since the eldest organisms are unlikely to even have posessed DNA but only RNA. The permanent version came later. Also, things like DNA splicing werent there at start either.

The human genome relies a lot on splicing to produce the very diverse proteins. A microorgansism has hardly any introns and therefore needs no splicing. Those on off swithces you mention are there, but its really not that simple ;)
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+1 27. michael022 commented 14 years ago

this is really cool.
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+1 28. willem57 commented 14 years ago

Why is NASA trying so hard to find water on Mars? If they can, why not send a rocket with those ( dead looking ) organisms to Mars? Put them on the Mars surface in an enclosed area, and look for any sings of life. However if I can come up with this, the scientists of NASA probably already outdated this idea. :S
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+1 29. antifolklore commented 14 years ago

@Thanny #18

Lack of reproduction would be true for many larger species.
Most species on earth evolved from Asexual RNA strings and thus gained sex rather then losing it.
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0 30. loadrunner commented 12 years ago

Let's put those on a rock, and send them to outer space, wait for them to grow into an intellegent life form capable to send messages into space.