
New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity - aethertap
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160621-electron-eating-microbes-found-in-odd-places/
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devindotcom
If I'm not mistaken it's not like just-now new, but of course still
fascinating and relatively new. Just from a quick search:

[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25894-meet-the-
electr...](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25894-meet-the-electric-
life-forms-that-live-on-pure-energy)

~~~
hcs
Part of the article is about a 2015 discovery showing that at least some
organisms appearing to directly ingest electrons are actually emitting enzymes
that grab an electron and a proton from the environment, then consuming the
resulting hydrogen (search for Spormann).

The article also mentions that there is evidence for direct electron transfer,
but it is yet unpublished.

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AncoraImparo
Can we get an experiment done immediately to see if they will survive off of
the electricity inside a vacuum?

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themartorana
Why?

Seriously. What's the potential gain? Layman asking.

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drzaiusapelord
Imagine if we created an organism that could live in the vacuum of space as
comfortable as being on the surface of a planet. It would revolutionize our
ideas of space exploration and colonization.

Also, I imagine there's some skepticism here. If they lived in a vacuum that
means there was nothing else they could live off and they truly are eating
electricity. We also live in the age of "viral scholarship" where a lot of
shoddy science gets paraded around for status seeking universities and
researchers. Remember how skeptics of the FTL claim from those Italians were
shot down on these forums and reddit? Skeptics shouldn't be automatically
punished. If anything, we need skepticism more than ever.

~~~
chongli
How would they repair themselves and reproduce without access to nutrients?

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Zenst
If these microbes eat hydrogen then would they not equally be present and more
common upon say a rusty electrode as more hydrogen produced via chemical
reactions with the water.

So I wonder if we have yet to find there niche environment

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restalis
Electron direct ingestion gives them an survival edge in harsh environment,
but that does not represent at the same time a clear advantage in the normal
environment, full of bacteria-eating organisms.

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Zenst
Very true and in such environments they may well be out competed, though with
microbe it ends up feeding into a food chain and with that thought, I wonder
what the food chain for these microbe are and if they have anything that feeds
of them. Or is this a whole new level of microbe or are we just rediscovering
something that naturally occurs and was more prevalent in the past due to
competition being less evolved. SO may be that we are with that creating the
perfect conditions and in a way that gives them momentum to accumulate to
something noticeable and that may well explain why slow growing, may well be
low survival rate and only in such rich environments for them that they thrive
of any note.

So still much to learn but at least we have a direction to look at as now we
are aware of them. After all we do seek out new life and try to understand
them, which is great.

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jostmey
So what if life hasn't evolved yet to feed off of our power lines, but the
potential for it to happen is there?

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etrautmann
I think they would need free electrons as the result of a chemical reaction,
not just a voltage? For an organism to make use of a high voltage, it would
need to physically connect to a lower voltage and allow current to flow, which
is not possible for a microorganism that small given that the high voltage
lines are isolated by several feet.

Cool concept for a GMO electro-snake though.

~~~
ars
Yah, I think they feed off ions, not voltage.

There are similarities, but they are not the same.

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ericfrederich
I don't remember much from my biology class but I seem to remember nearly all
life utilizes some ATP cycle. Plants get it from the sun, animals from food,
etc. I'm curious to know if this electic life is still ATP based and just
utilizes free electrons to create it.

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ikeboy
A recent episode of Limitless
([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5146006/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5146006/))
had this as a subplot.

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unixhero
I really wanted that series to be as good as the movie. Has it picked up
lately?

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DasIch
Not really, it's canceled.

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unixhero
Ok good riddance then. Maybe a second movie will come out.

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zanalyzer
my breakfast this morning basically consisted of electrons

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idlewords
They have electrolytes!

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jhoni365
Layman here...Is it possible life could likely live in the emptiness space as
well then?

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mpnagle
pika pika

~~~
brian-armstrong
Perhaps you meant pica?
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_\(disorder\))
;)

~~~
yazaddaruvala
While this entire thread is probably not considered relevant, "pika pika" or
"pika-pi" are common quotes from Pikachu[1], arguably the most popular
Pokemon.

The grandparent's comment is "relevant" because a pikachu is an Electric-type
Pokemon. It can attract/store large quantities of electrons, and also
repel/release large quantities of electrons.

While pikachus do eat other food, fruits/Poke-food/etc, it is unclear if they
need a source of electrons to sustain themselves. They may just pull the
needed electrons out of the their surroundings. However, I seem to recall an
episode where Pikachu was sick due to a prolonged lack of access to a large
current source.

[1]
[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pikachu_(Pok%C3%A9mon...](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pikachu_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))

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brian-armstrong
I knew what he meant. I was pointing out a similar sounding phenomenon which
includes the consumption of "metal (metallophagia); stones (lithophagia) or
earth (geophagia);". It was just a play on words, which I had hoped the ";)"
would reflect

~~~
mpnagle
pikaaaaaaa

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manaskarekar
Another item to add to the list of things/ideas explored by Star Trek before
being discovered/invented.

A somewhat related and interesting read:
[http://www.physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/index.cfm?postid=792...](http://www.physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/index.cfm?postid=7925996267659095123)

