Month: September 2022

DROPLETON QUANTUM FOG. "They form a “quantum fog” of electrons and holes that flow around each other and even ripple like a liquid, rather than existing as discrete pairs. However, unlike liquids we are familiar with, dropletons a finite size, outside which the electron/hole association breaks down." https://lnkd.in/dR2cJKA View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues with extremophyle adaptions. As the first and most important barrier to the outside world, it is of little surprise that cell membranes in these extraordinary creatures are highly adapted for conditions too harsh for any other life forms. Inside the cell, other adaptations of proteins, nucleic acids, and enzymes are also required to exploit harsh niches. View in LinkedIn

"THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE LIMIT for life seems to be around −20 °C, which is the value reported for bacteria living in permafrost soil and in sea ice. Microbial activity at such temperatures is restricted to small amounts of unfrozen water inside the permafrost soil or the ice, and to brine channels." https://lnkd.in/dxAsq4S View in LinkedIn

LIQUID NITROGEN. "Many microbes and cell lines can be preserved successfully at -196 'C (liquid nitrogen), but the lowest recorded temperature for active microbial communities is substantially higher, at -18 'C ... ice crystals can rip cell membranes, and solution chemistry stops in the absence of liquid water. Freezing of intracellular water is almost invariably lethal." https://lnkd.in/diUg6FS View in LinkedIn

EXTREME INSECTS. "During the extreme winter months, the spruce budworm resists freezing at temperatures approaching –30 °C. The Alaskan beetle Upis ceramboides can survive in a temperature of –60 °C by using antifreeze agents that are not proteins." https://lnkd.in/dtV8vVP View in LinkedIn

COLD ADAPTED EXTREMOPHILES are frequently marine, and salt water presents special challenges. Salt water freezes at lower temperatures than fresh water. Freezing seas segregate salt and fresh water during ice formation, so when it melts, the organisms get an osmotic shock, just to add to their discomfort. View in LinkedIn

COLD EXTREMOPHILES. "Psychrophiles have successfully overcome two main challenges: first, low temperature, because any decrease in temperature exponentially affects the rate of biochemical reactions; and second, the viscosity of aqueous environments, which increases by a factor higher than two between 37 °C and 0 °C." https://lnkd.in/dxAsq4S View in LinkedIn

FREEZING AND VISCOUS NICHES. "Psychrophilic Archaea, cold-loving organisms ... inhabit areas below 15 'C and often thrive at temperatures near the freezing point of water. Permanent exposure to cold has necessitated adaptations to overcome two main challenges: low temperature and the viscosity of aqueous environments." https://lnkd.in/dz9R9uY View in LinkedIn

EXTREME COLD MEMBRANES. "Membranes and enzymes become rigid at low temperatures. Reduced membrane fluidity results in reduced membrane permeability and adversely affects the transport of nutrients and waste products across the membrane." https://lnkd.in/dz9R9uY View in LinkedIn

COLD ADAPTED MEMBRANE LIPIDS. "In general, lower growth temperatures produce a higher content of unsaturated, polyunsaturated and methyl-branched fatty acids, and/or a shorter acyl-chain length, with studies reporting a high proportion of cis-unsaturated double-bonds and antesio-branched fatty acids." https://lnkd.in/dxAsq4S View in LinkedIn