MIT professor of geophysics
Daniel Rothman stands next to part of the Xiakou formation in China. His
right hand rests on the layer that marks the time of the end-Permian
mass extinction event. Samples from this formation provided evidence for
large amounts of nickel that were spewed from volcanic activity at this
time, 252 million years ago.
(Dan Rothman)
20 comments:
I thought this article was really good. Not only was it super informative and long, but it also provided information on what would happen later on in the article. It was really suprising to me that there was something that almost wiped out all of the life on earth. Because there was too much carbon dioxide, I think that there weren't that many trees at that time. The reason I think this is because trees take in carbon dioxide, and if there were to be too much carbon dioxide, that would mean there wouldn't be enough trees to take in the carbon dioxide. Also, because the scientists found tiny microbes at the bottom of the ocean floor, it might still be able to happen today. The good thing is, there is a less chance for it to happen these days because we have a lot of trees. But, if we continue to chop down trees and destroy our environment, it will be more likely for this to happen. In all, I would rate this article a nine out of ten because the article had great information it exlained the causes for everything.
I thought that this article was amazing. It had a lot of information. I never knew that this had ever happened, and even more surprisingly, that it had been caused by tiny microbes. Erica makes a good point when she states that the danger of a similar event happening is real. If samples were found at the bottom of the ocean, they could produce the same effect and cause another mass extinction event.
I think that this article is surprising and interesting, but also somewhat scary. I think that it is amazing that at some point roughly 252 million years ago, around 90% of life on earth was completely obliterated. Even more amazing is the fact that this great event, this ancient massacre, was set in motion by colonies of a tiny microbe, known as Methanosarcina. These tiny destroyers worked by producing high amounts of methane, which is harmful to life in overdoses. In order to turn acetate into methane, though, the Methanosarcina microbes needed nickel. Coincidentally, lots of volcanic activity around that time occurred around in Siberia, which has some of the world's largest deposits of nickel. These tiny microbes almost killed all life on earth, and I find that amazing.
I thought that this article was great, mostly because it talks about a new discovery, one that allows us to discover more of our past. Also, because of the length, there was plenty of space to talk about whatever they wanted to. It was very interesting to find out that there was a mass extinction due to the lack of carbon dioxide, and that microscopic creatures almost wiped all life off the face of the earth. I do think that there is one loop in the argument. The researching scientists are not exactly sure of what they have discovered. Although this is the same with any new scientific discovery, they seemed more unsure than usual. I wish they could answer if those microbes still existed today. If so, I agree with Erica that we should keep the carbon-dioxide level low.
I think it's surprising that of all the things that could have caused extinction, it was these miniscule microbes that might have done it. There must have been a lot of them to cause one of the largest extinctions in history. I disagree with Erica's statement about plants because even though plants do take in carbon dioxide and it would harm them the least, too much carbon dioxide could possibly harm plants. For example, animals take in oxygen to breathe. However, the air is not 100% oxygen; it also has other elements in it such as nitrogen. If the air was all oxygen, it might be different. I also, I find it strange that the microbes might have actually succeeded in killing so many creatures. I recall that the article said it took a whole 20,000 years for the microbes to kill all of the animals that they did. It's pretty funny that the microbes had a whole 20,000 years to stop making carbon dioxide or even become extinct themselves for another reason. After all, billions of years ago, with the world still evolving, it was possible for an entire species just to drop dead. Just think: If these microbes had stopped creating so much CO2, we might have twice as many life forms than we actually do. Overall, I thought the article was fairly interesting and had an interesting point, so I give it 8.5 out of 10 stars.
This was a really good article. It interested me because I had never even heard of this event that wiped out so much life on earth. Also, the article mentions that Methanosarcina survives on nickel and that many years ago, it produced a lot of carbon dioxide because it received a gene transfer. It left me wondering if this microbe could receive this transfer again. Besides that, I'm also wondering whether or not this outburst of carbon dioxide was actually beneficial to the Earth in the long run or if carbon dioxide is still surviving from that event. Much of the carbon dioxide produced today is by humans (fossil fuels, breathing, etc.). These microbes must still be producing carbon dioxide, so doubtless, even a small rise in carbon dioxide levels could be a danger to us. It sounds like acetate, which the microbes would produce without nickel, could also cause irritation to humans, so it wouldn't be smart to start limiting the abundant nickel supply there. During my research, I learned that Methanosarcina likes to group at temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius, preferably. I think it would be good to know where the oceans or bodies of water are this temperature. I would also want to discover why the carbon dioxide increases stopped at all. As a whole, this article was really intriguing and it would be a helpful study to see what we can do about this in the future.
I thought that this article was good-ish. I liked the concept, but I wished that they could have researched the topic more before publishing it. Also, I had a question: how do they track the amount of CO2 from geographical records? If it’s gas, wouldn’t it just go into the air, not the earth? Also, the article mentioned that the microbe needs nickel. Then they said that a lot of the time’s volcanic activity was near nickel. However, I’m wondering: does C02 stimulate volcanic activity? Otherwise, why are the microbes related at all to the volcanic activity? Anyway, I thought this article was interesting, but I wish they could have provided more information.
I thought this article was very fascinating espeacially because we could have been extinct and barely anybody knew about it. I agree with Arthur that it was extreemely stange how microbes were behind all of this. Mostly everbody knows the story of the Dinosaur extinction about 250 million years ago and to think it was possible to happen again, that really blew my mind. Overall, this article was one of the best. It provided plenty information and was very fascinating to everybody.
I thought this article was very fascinating. I agree with Arthur and Hudson when they said that this 90% of life was killed on earth and nobody knew about this. The only thing they could have done is find out what caused the carbon dioxide levels to go up that much. The most interesting part in my opinion is that the mass extinction happened for 20,000 years. This makes me further shocked at how we didn't know about the world biggest mass extinction that lasted 20,000 years of Earth's history. Overall this article was interesting, but the writers could have added a lot more.
I thought this article was very interesting. It is amazing that such microscopic creatures may be responsible for such mass destruction. While I was reading this article, I formulated a few questions. First, what are the other plausible theories that exist about the end-Permian extinction? To me, this theory seemed very interesting, and very possible, so I was wondering if there were any other theories that also seemed correct. Along with that, I would like to know if there are any other events or animals that could have caused such a sharp increase in C02. It seems as if scientists believe that these small microbes are responsible for the high C02 levels, because of the precipitous increase of C02 levels during the end-Permian extinction. In addition, I would like to know what caused the microbes to stop thriving, and being available in such abundance. Is there not enough Nickel today? Lastly, which animals survived during the end-Permian extinction? The article mentioned that only 90% of the animals died, so I would like to know which animals survived, and why they were able to survive. Overall, this was a very interesting, informative, and amazing article. I really enjoyed reading and learning about these fantastic microbes.
This article was very informative and interesting. It never occurred to me that these creatures could cause so much damage and destruction! If we were extinct and never even knew it, what would happen! Overall, I give this article a 6/10.
This article was very informative and interesting. It never occurred to me that these creatures could cause so much damage and destruction! If we were extinct and never even knew it, what would happen! Overall, I give this article a 6/10.
This article was very informative and interesting. It never occurred to me that these creatures could cause so much damage and destruction! If we were extinct and never even knew it, what would happen! Overall, I give this article a 6/10.
This article was very informative and interesting. It never occurred to me that these creatures could cause so much damage and destruction! If we were extinct and never even knew it, what would happen! Overall, I give this article a 6/10.
This article was intriguing in away that others are not. The topic suggests how the unexpected could have provoked us from even existing today, the unexpected being these surprisingly small microbes, of course. I enjoy how the evolutionary biologist featured in this article, Gregory Fournier, said "Microbes rule the Earth, and we just live on it.", as noted from microbiologists he has worked with. It gives an interesting perspective from the people studying this topic, as they view that the smallest microbes make up the most essential life forces of this earth.
I thought that this article was very interesting and had a lot of details. I am surprised that something so small could come so close to ending all life on earth. What would happen if this event hadn't happened? Would their be more life existing on earth? Would we still be the dominating species?
I find this article very interesting. I wonder if it has implications for for us today. As we produce more and more CO2, will we reach the point where some other microbe starts getting very active? Could we reach the point where some other microbe goes on a process similar to the way the author thinks Methanosarcina may have. If the author of this study is correct than we may be lucky that volcanos stopped spewing out tons of nickel that was necessary for Methanosarcina to convert CO2 to Methane. It would be very interesting to see if the author can really prove his idea.
I think this article is really amazing but Erica and Arthur make a really good point. The danger of these microbes still lurks. However, I really like how it tells you the backstory of everything and how it all works. It also makes me wonder. Even though these microbes might not hurt us (because the trees take in carbon dioxide), what if these microbes adapt. They've already tried to eliminate all life on Earth. A lot of microbes learn from their mistakes.
This article was astonishing. What I find truly fascinating is that the word is only now starting to get out that these microbes could have destroyed life our planet. And who knows (except the scientists), these microbes may still one day reform their revolution against life on Earth and try to kill us again. What I don't understand is the microbes purpose. The article didn't explain what they eat, why they could have killed off all life on Earth. They only discuss the fact that this could have happened. As a result of my curiosity I looked up this information. During my search I stumbled upon another article that was talking about an experiment that has taken place that found that this when adding this microbe to the diet of livestock, has improved animal performance among the industry. I found this article particularly interesting and wanted to talk about it a little bit. Overall, I thought that this article was interesting and made me think more about microbes and our world today.
This was such a great article. I was very interested by the title because I have never heard of any small microbes that can kill life on Earth so dramatically. I was very happy with this article as it had lots of information and it left a big question mark on my head because of other information that have no yet been discovered. I would really like to know more about these microbes, and if an extinction like that would ever happen again. Which terrifies me because now I know that these tiny microbes can kill all life on our planet. I thought that this article was fascinating and very cool. I give this article a 5 out of 5 stars.
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