Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Babbling bacteria
A new item at Science Daily notes that bacteria need to form colonies in order to effectively process available nutrients in the ocean. When one bacterium finds itself alone, it sends out SOS chemicals. With luck, other bacteria will 'hear' the signal and come to join the first one. After they get a proper colony going, they start to digest whatever's around, including organic material and gases.
In other words, the ocean's gas content is modulated by bacterial communication abilities. A neat animation is here at the Woods Hole website.
What else do we know about bacteria in the ocean? We know they use magnetic fields to get around. They follow the lines of force in the earth's magnetic field, or sometimes steer a course relative to those lines.
And what else do we know? We know the earth's magnetic field is dramatically weakening in the last 30 years.
Hypothesis: If bacteria are having trouble getting from point A to point B, they will have trouble forming biofilms or colonies in response to SOS 'signals'. If they aren't forming as many colonies, they won't absorb CO2 as well as they did with a strong compass.
Labels: Carbon Cult
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