Today, most life on Earth is supported by oxygen. But ancient microbial mats existed for a billion years before oxygen was present in the atmosphere. So what did life use instead? Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ancient-microbial-life-arsenic…
Tag: arsenic
We may finally know what life on Earth breathed before there was oxygen
Billions of years ago, long before oxygen was readily available, the notorious poison arsenic could have been the compound that breathed new life into our planet. Source: https://www.livescience.com/life-on-earth-before-oxygen.html
Hammer-on technique for atomic vibrations in a crystal
Vibrations of atoms in a crystal of the semiconductor gallium arsenide (GaAs) are impulsively shifted to a higher frequency by an optically excited electric current. The related change in the spatial distribution of charge between gallium and arsenic atoms acts back on their motions via electric interactions. …
Worms with Three Sexes Thrive in Arsenic-Laced Lake in California
Scientists found eight nematodes that can live in a lake deemed inhospitable for most animals. Source: https://www.livescience.com/weird-worms-in-mono-lake.html
How one fern hoards toxic arsenic in its fronds and doesn’t die
To survive high levels of arsenic, a fern sequesters the heavy metal in its shoots with the help of three proteins. Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chinese-brake-fern-arsenic-fronds4…
Arsenic-breathing life discovered in Pacific
Arsenic is a deadly poison for most living things, but new research shows that microorganisms are breathing arsenic in a large area of the Pacific Ocean. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arsenic-breathing-microorganisms-discovered-in-pacific…