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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Uranium Subterranean"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
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96 kbps
(75 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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LIVING WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. WE'VE FOUND LIFE IN SOME STRANGE, UNEXPECTED PLACES--BUT NEVER LIKE THIS: DEEP INSIDE AN ABANDONED SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD MINE, IN A STUDY LED BY INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON, RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED A BACTERIA THAT EXPANDS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF JUST HOW EXTREME CONDITIONS CAN BECOME--AND STILL SUPPORT LIFE. YOU SEE, THESE BACTERIA LIVE IN SOLID ROCK, OVER A MILE AND A HALF BENEATH THE EARTH'S SURFACE. OF COURSE, THERE'S NO SUNLIGHT DOWN THERE--BUT GET THIS: THESE MICRO-ORGANISMS USE RADIOACTIVE URANIUM TO CONVERT WATER MOLECULES INTO USABLE ENERGY. AND, ONE MORE THING: THESE GUYS HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDERGROUND, ISOLATED, FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS--DISCONNECTED FROM ANY LIFE-FORMS FED BY THE SUN'S LIGHT. THIS DISCOVERY SHOWS US NEW, MORE-EXTREME CONDITIONS WHERE LIFE CAN EXIST--RIGHT BENEATH OUR FEET, OR MAYBE EVEN UNDER THE SURFACE OF MARS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
