Friday is here, and the 'A Taste of Science for the Weekend' corner is back — number 65.
This time: the astonishing survival abilities of extremophiles, and their connection to laundry detergents and the Devil's Eye.
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Extremophiles (from "extreme") are organisms capable of surviving under exceptionally harsh living conditions.
Different types of extremophiles contend with intense heat, extreme cold, enormous pressures, vacuum, high radiation levels, very high or very low acidity, and exposure to high salt concentrations.
No single organism can handle all of these conditions; rather, each type of extremophile has evolved distinct biological capabilities for coping with the environment it inhabits.
Extremophiles actually thrive under extreme conditions.
Other animals — such as the tardigrade family, creatures measuring up to 2 millimeters — do not develop under extreme conditions but are capable of surviving them.
They can be found everywhere, from the frozen peaks of the Himalayas to boiling hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
One of the survival strategies of these creatures is desiccation and entry into a deep dormancy, during which metabolic processes drop to nearly zero. They can survive in this "death-like" state for many years.
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Psychrophiles are cold-loving organisms.
Ordinary enzymes require a slightly elevated temperature to function. At low temperatures they stiffen, and the movement of their internal particles slows, preventing them from functioning properly.
Psychrophiles overcome this problem through an exceptionally flexible protein structure, which allows normal activity even in cold environments.
Such enzymes are incorporated into laundry detergents, enabling them to break down dirt even at low temperatures while reducing electricity consumption.
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Thermophiles, by contrast, live in extremely hot environments.
The internal structure of their proteins contains numerous chemical bonds at high density, preventing the proteins from breaking down when exposed to high heat — unlike ordinary enzymes.
A heat-resistant enzyme extracted from such organisms is used in the PCR process, in which DNA strands are replicated at high temperatures. These enzymes are also used in other processes, such as breaking down starches in ethanol production.
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Analyzing the biological structure of these creatures is fascinating, and it enables both existing applications — in waste decomposition, fuel production, and medical development — and holds enormous potential for future scientific advances and the search for life in space.
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In the video you can see the 'Devil's Eye' — the popular name for Aiken Spring, a geothermal spring in the Gobi Desert in China.
The spring is an upwelling of boiling water from deep within the earth; its distinctive colors result from a high content of sulfur and iron. Various thermophiles thrive peacefully in its boiling waters.
Shabbat Shalom 😊
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