Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Bacteria Attacks Oil Like Black Monday Novel
New species of bacteria that can "eat" petroleum products have been discovered by environmental scientists at UC Riverside. Similar organisms are fictionalized in the new sf/thriller Black Monday by R. Scott Reiss.
(Bacteria from La Brea are like Black Monday's)
The bacteria contain previously undiscovered classes of enzymes that can break down petroleum products.
"We were surprised to find these bacteria because asphalt is an extreme and hostile environment for life to survive," said Jong-Shik Kim, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Environmental Sciences, who initiated the study. "It's clear, however, that these living organisms can survive in heavy oil mixtures containing many highly toxic chemicals. Moreover, these bacteria survive with no water and little or no oxygen."
It is hoped that the bacteria could be used to help with the clean-up after oil spills (bioremediation), new medical treatments, alternative energy biofuels and enhanced oil recovery.
The researchers had better be careful. In his new novel Black Monday, author R. Scott Weiss writes about a terrible plague that could destroy modern civilization and kill millions of people. The plague organism does not target human beings - it attacks oil and makes it unusable, thus bringing our mechanized civilization to a halt.
I highly recommend this novel. It's a great read, and it really makes you think about what will happen as we approach (and pass) peak oil - the point at which the amount of oil pumped out of the ground starts to decrease every year.
A similar tale unfolds in Ill Wind, a 1995 novel by Kevin Anderson:
It is the largest oil spill in history: a supertanker crashes into the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay. Desperate to avert environmental damage (as well as the PR disaster), the multinational oil company releases an untested designer oil-eating microbe to break up the spill.What the company didn’t realize is that their microbe propagates through the air … and it mutates to consume anything made of petrocarbons: oil, gasoline, synthetic fabrics, plastics of all kinds. And when every piece of plastic begins to dissolve, it’s too late.…
Don't miss these recent bacteria-related news stories:
- Bacteria Save Your Data, Make Multiple Backups
The bacillus itself creates new copies of the data every time it reproduces itself. - First Motor Powered By Living Bacteria
The bacteria-driven motor consists of a square central basin into which the M. mobile are deposited... - Bacillus Loquacious: AI-2 and the Talkative Bacterium
Bacteria are gregarious little creatures, chatting amongst themselves and even with members of other species.
Read more about New petroleum-degrading bacteria found at Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/10/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Biology ")
Lunar Biorepository Proposed For Cryo-Preservation Of Earth Species
'...there was no one alive who had ever seen them. But they existed in the Life Bank.' - John Varley, 1977.
Let's Make Slaver Sunflowers! Engineering Plants To Reflect Light
'The mirror-blossom was a terrible weapon.' - Larry Niven, 1965.
Machete-Wielding Philodendron Isn't Going To Take It Anymore
'The tree ended its wild larruping, stood like a dreaming giant liable to wake into frenzy at any moment.' - Eric Frank Russell, 1943.
Tsunami Forecasts Improved By Ionosphere Signals
'Swifter than any tide could ebb, the water was receding from the shore.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
