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Lifelike biochemistry continued to unfold in sterilized soil

66 points by speckx

by buildsjets

1 subcomments

Reminds me of the Gamma Forest at Brookhaven National Labs. From 1961 thru 1978 they irradiated a section of the pine barrens forest with a cesium-137 source just to see what would happen. It sterilized the soil and hardly anything grows there, almost 50 years later.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/pJYr6qiZnMdVwLJS6
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/brookhaven-gamma-forest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsuiLxcDuHY&t=925s

by emsign

0 subcomment

This is huge news if true for evaluating soil experiments on Mars. They could give false positives for life if they only look for metabolic products.

by JackFr

0 subcomment

Obligatory Asimov: 'The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" but 'That's funny...”'

by j16sdiz

0 subcomment

It feels next would be trying isolate the component that make CO2. Try to use smaller sample. Put them under microscope, etc.