For those that understand how evolution works this an interesting article. Scientists can now observe it in real time through worms due to their fast life cycle. It also provides a look at what might happen if the humans were suddenly wiped out in a nuclear war.

Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online
Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online

I just watched a youtube video about a study on wolves there. Apparently they are quite immune to cancer. 

Quote from: DailyMailTheir findings suggest that worms [nematodes] from Chornobyl are not necessarily more tolerant of radiation and the radioactive landscape has not forced them to evolve.

Quote from: OSU Newsroom"The oldest known nematodes are from about 400 million years ago, but I believe they probably date back to around 1 billion years," Poinar said. "That would mean they were one of the very oldest of all life forms, coming along before almost all other animals and just after bacteria, protozoa and fungi.

"They literally emerged from the primordial ooze," he said.

https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2011/apr/research-outlines-mysterious-evolution-nematodes-%E2%80%93-one-earth%E2%80%99s-first-animals

And in all that time they evolved into ....

nematodes. Yep that's pretty much how evolution works.

Quote from: MacWa77ace on March 11, 2024, 03:04:05 PM

Quote from: DailyMailTheir findings suggest that worms [nematodes] from Chornobyl are not necessarily more tolerant of radiation and the radioactive landscape has not forced them to evolve.

Quote from: OSU Newsroom"The oldest known nematodes are from about 400 million years ago, but I believe they probably date back to around 1 billion years," Poinar said. "That would mean they were one of the very oldest of all life forms, coming along before almost all other animals and just after bacteria, protozoa and fungi.

"They literally emerged from the primordial ooze," he said.

https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2011/apr/research-outlines-mysterious-evolution-nematodes-%E2%80%93-one-earth%E2%80%99s-first-animals

And in all that time they evolved into ....

nematodes. Yep that's pretty much how evolution works.

Given that the worms are in Chernobyl, I was expecting more "Graboids" and less what they actually became.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on March 11, 2024, 04:46:53 PM

Quote from: MacWa77ace on March 11, 2024, 03:04:05 PM

Quote from: DailyMailTheir findings suggest that worms [nematodes] from Chornobyl are not necessarily more tolerant of radiation and the radioactive landscape has not forced them to evolve.

Quote from: OSU Newsroom"The oldest known nematodes are from about 400 million years ago, but I believe they probably date back to around 1 billion years," Poinar said. "That would mean they were one of the very oldest of all life forms, coming along before almost all other animals and just after bacteria, protozoa and fungi.

"They literally emerged from the primordial ooze," he said.

https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2011/apr/research-outlines-mysterious-evolution-nematodes-%E2%80%93-one-earth%E2%80%99s-first-animals

And in all that time they evolved into ....

nematodes. Yep that's pretty much how evolution works.

Given that the worms are in Chernobyl, I was expecting more "Graboids" and less what they actually became.

Evolution works by killing off the parts of the species that is unfit to adapt to current conditions. The worms that were susceptible to radiation died and the remainder are immune. This means that they are more likely to survive than those that are not. Given a couple of thousand years and they become graboids.

Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on March 09, 2024, 02:08:14 PMFor those that understand how evolution works this an interesting article. Scientists can now observe it in real time through worms due to their fast life cycle. It also provides a look at what might happen if the humans were suddenly wiped out in a nuclear war.

Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online
Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online

I've always found the Exclusion Zone to be fascinating. It's pretty cool how quickly nature adapted and rebounded in the surrounding area, and not in the "glow in the dark" way that lots of folks predicted. 

Quote from: echo83 on March 11, 2024, 09:44:26 PM

Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on March 09, 2024, 02:08:14 PMFor those that understand how evolution works this an interesting article. Scientists can now observe it in real time through worms due to their fast life cycle. It also provides a look at what might happen if the humans were suddenly wiped out in a nuclear war.

Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online
Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online

I've always found the Exclusion Zone to be fascinating. It's pretty cool how quickly nature adapted and rebounded in the surrounding area, and not in the "glow in the dark" way that lots of folks predicted.

Probably obvious. But what is the difference between the radiation from Chernobyl and the bombs dropped on Japan? 

I know we are comparing animals to humans. And one coninually exposed to radiatiin and one not.  But Japan has one of the top cancer percentages by population in the world.

Maybe evolution and location to radiation has not hit the surviving non cancerous population of Japan? So we don't know they are immune? 

Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on March 11, 2024, 09:17:38 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on March 11, 2024, 04:46:53 PM

Quote from: MacWa77ace on March 11, 2024, 03:04:05 PM

Quote from: DailyMailTheir findings suggest that worms [nematodes] from Chornobyl are not necessarily more tolerant of radiation and the radioactive landscape has not forced them to evolve.

Quote from: OSU Newsroom"The oldest known nematodes are from about 400 million years ago, but I believe they probably date back to around 1 billion years," Poinar said. "That would mean they were one of the very oldest of all life forms, coming along before almost all other animals and just after bacteria, protozoa and fungi.

"They literally emerged from the primordial ooze," he said.

https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2011/apr/research-outlines-mysterious-evolution-nematodes-%E2%80%93-one-earth%E2%80%99s-first-animals

And in all that time they evolved into ....

nematodes. Yep that's pretty much how evolution works.

Given that the worms are in Chernobyl, I was expecting more "Graboids" and less what they actually became.

Evolution works by killing off the parts of the species that is unfit to adapt to current conditions. The worms that were susceptible to radiation died and the remainder are immune. This means that they are more likely to survive than those that are not. Given a couple of thousand years and they become graboids.

I suppose the bright side is in a couple thousand years, I won't have to worry about Chernobyl Graboids since I'll have long since died before that happens.

Quote from: Moab on March 11, 2024, 10:20:38 PM

Quote from: echo83 on March 11, 2024, 09:44:26 PM

Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on March 09, 2024, 02:08:14 PMFor those that understand how evolution works this an interesting article. Scientists can now observe it in real time through worms due to their fast life cycle. It also provides a look at what might happen if the humans were suddenly wiped out in a nuclear war.

Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online
Worms living near Chernobyl have developed a new 'superpower', scientists discover | Daily Mail Online

I've always found the Exclusion Zone to be fascinating. It's pretty cool how quickly nature adapted and rebounded in the surrounding area, and not in the "glow in the dark" way that lots of folks predicted.

Probably obvious. But what is the difference between the radiation from Chernobyl and the bombs dropped on Japan?

I know we are comparing animals to humans. And one coninually exposed to radiatiin and one not.  But Japan has one of the top cancer percentages by population in the world.

Maybe evolution and location to radiation has not hit the surviving non cancerous population of Japan? So we don't know they are immune?

I think it mostly has to do with the shorter lifespans of the worms. The scientists said that since the worms breed-die-breed much faster than we do, that it's easier to see the worms adapting faster than we would. 

Plus, Godzilla has rampaged through Japan how many times now? That persistent level of radiation alone is worrying.

QuoteI think it mostly has to do with the shorter lifespans of the worms. The scientists said that since the worms breed-die-breed much faster than we do, that it's easier to see the worms adapting faster than we would. 

It is the same with cockroaches and rats. King speculates in The Stand that the rats might die from the plague but would bounce right back due their short life cycle and lack of competition. One of the many small details that we miss out on the film adaptions.

A single female cockroach can create 300,000 babies in one year and might live as long as three years, having as many as 900,000 offspring. So even if you kill 99.999% of a horde they can bounce right back, with the only the toughest little buggers surviving.