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From bruces@well.com  Mon Aug 19 10:59:07 2002

the Viridian obsession with ecologically
GM to give away thousands of electric vehicles - USA
Sinking Pacific states slam US over sea levels - FIJI
Famished Australian emus invade drought-hit farms -
"As usual I'm cutting the deadline close... But I've
honestly been thinking about this one for a good month.
If only I had one of these, my life would be better."
This contest has now expired.   A winner will
be announced at the discretion of our judge.
"Germans discover ancient life, offer climate hope"
"BERLIN == German scientists have discovered micro-
organisms deep under the sea that may provide an insight
into some of the earth's first lifeforms and offer hope in
the fight against global warming, the Max Planck Society
"The marine biologists and geologists believe they
have shown life could have existed by processing methane
"Their findings could also prove useful in ridding the
earth of excess methane, one of the greenhouse gases many
scientists believe is responsible for global warming.
"Traditional views of early life on earth centre on
plants which converted carbon dioxide to oxygen.
"'These (plant lifeforms) date back to between three
and 3.5 billion years ago... We have found biomass (large
cluster of organisms) using methane that geologists show
could have existed around four billion years ago,'
Professor Antje Boetius, joint author of the study, told
Yes, she exists.  Dr. Antje does more than exist.  She
"The two-year research by the scientists from
Hamburg University, the Alfred Wegener Institute in
northern Bremerhaven and the Max Planck Society centred on
coral-forming micro-organisms in the Black Sea at depths
where no oxygen and no light is present.
"The Black Sea contains the largest oxygen-free basin
"The lifeforms were able to process methane together
with sulphates within the water, producing carbonates, in
the form of coral, as waste.  (((Black, oxygen-free
"coral".  I wonder what that stuff looks like.  Maybe you
"That they were able to do so without oxygen suggests
they may have been around before plant life.
"'Perhaps micro-organisms like those found in the
Black Sea were the original inhabitants of the earth
during a long period of the earth's history,' said
Boetius.  (((Yeah, they've just been sitting down there,
"She believes the findings could prove useful for
"Previously, scientists had thought that methane,
found in abundance in the sea and produced through
agriculture, could only be broken down with oxygen.
"The German researchers believe the discovery of a
pool of organisms that process methane without oxygen
could lead to a way of cutting down potentially harmful
greenhouse gases without burning oxygen and producing
similarly damaging carbon dioxide.  (((What do they
"'It could be a way of hindering climate