
Life under quartz: Hypolithic mosses in the Mojave Desert - bookofjoe
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0235928
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filoeleven
I hope Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t talks about this, he spends tons of time
in the Mojave Desert!

“Okay, so, here ya got a species of MAHSS, dat seems like it doesn’t really
like bein’ in the desert, but that’s where it lives anyway. Why would you do
that? I hear ya though, I know the feeling. I live in the city, that’s like a
desert of the soul, ya know? Surrounded by the ongoing catastrophe that is
modern humanity.”

Followed by an accurate and detailed description of the moss’ morphology and
lifecycle.

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gus_massa
(I didn't know that channel.) Link for the lazy
[https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt/videos](https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt/videos)

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filoeleven
Good idea!

For the even lazier who won’t jump without more context, he’s a low-brow,
misanthropic, intentionally-stereotypical Chicago Italian who really enjoys
studying and cultivating native plants, and talks in-depth about botany while
getting sidetracked by rants about humanity and occasionally saving small
animals. He ends most videos with something along the lines of, “Have a nice
evening, go fuck yourself, bye.” HST would have called him “one of God’s own
prototypes” even if they might have hated each other had they met.

The first time I saw one of his videos, I thought it was a joke until he got
waaay too deep into Latin names and plant structures for it to not be legit.
He’s got a millimeter scale tattooed on a finger so he doesn’t have to carry a
ruler around.

He has a Patreon and isn’t a prick about it, barely mentions it, and I suspect
that some of the big donors who help fund his trips around the world are the
same tech entrepreneurs he rails against. I’m so happy that he’s out there
doing his thing.

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gus_massa
I didn't check the videos. I found the channel and it has a few videos with
nice thumbnails of plants in the desert, so the recommendation of the ggp
looked relevant, and I bookmarked it for later.

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ajuc
It's a shame they didn't evolved a way to produce quartz shades by themselves
:)

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Chris2048
You mean break down the quartz and adorn themselves with it?

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ajuc
Yes, like transparent shells.

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jacobush
Maybe a good candidate for seeding the solar system with life.

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jhloa2
Is there a reason why we'd want to seed the solar system with life?

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shard
Based on no scientifically-supported feasibility info whatsoever: To start the
terraforming process so that future generations could emigrate to other
planets?

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leptoniscool
I'm reminded of the phrase "life finds a way"

