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LTX

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86. I'm not following. What's preposterous?

Tue Apr 9, 2013, 12:57 PM

Apr 2013

The existence of hydrocarbon metabolizing bacteria? Their exponential increase following the spill? The lack of open water oil concentrations shortly after the spill? The demonstrable hydrocarbon consumption rates of the observed bacteria?

And yes, a proportion of oil emulsion and particulate did sink to the bottom (oil floats, so in general terms, emulsification and initial degradation are prerequisites to its sinking). A proportion also concentrated along shorelines and in marshlands. Nobody says otherwise. But "the oil" did not all sink to the bottom. There was dispersal (caused in part by current, temperature, and consumption bond-breaking), and very significant microbial degradation of key hydrocarbon constituents.

There seems to be some political need to simply deny this reality. It is not at all dissimilar to conservative denial of evolution, climate science, etc. But politicization of science is as poor a policy choice for the left as it is for the right.

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An explosion in oil-munching bacteria made fast work of BP oil spill, scientist says [View all] Sgent Apr 2013 OP

LMAO Esse Quam Videri Apr 2013 #1

Why are you laughing your ass off? n/t LTX Apr 2013 #39

because it's preposterous---anyone who followed this knows the oil sank to bottom wordpix Apr 2013 #75

I'm not following. What's preposterous? LTX Apr 2013 #86

Let's See Some Peer Review bucolic_frolic Apr 2013 #2

I checked out the guy's bio ..... Botany Apr 2013 #6

U Tenn Knoxville? NYC_SKP Apr 2013 #8

He is legit Botany Apr 2013 #10

Right. Because them so-called science people at UT are so fucking dumb. LTX Apr 2013 #40

Knoxville is the flagship campus for the University of Tennessee alcibiades_mystery Apr 2013 #103

regardless of whether or not it's legit, how much oxygen is being consumed by the process? CreekDog Apr 2013 #74

Not necessarily any. Bacteria come in millions of species. Not all need oxygen. kestrel91316 Apr 2013 #81

is this an anaerobic process or not? CreekDog Apr 2013 #82

I have no idea. It certainly could be anaerobic, and it makes more kestrel91316 Apr 2013 #117

Here's a second opinion from a slightly more objective source. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #31

And how does that source conflict with the findings by Hazen? LTX Apr 2013 #44

Clearly you don't know your ass from your elbow. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #52

As I said, you clearly haven't gleaned anything meaningful from either article. LTX Apr 2013 #55

How Objective? demwing Apr 2013 #90

It's objective enough to be believable if you didn't just fall off a turnip truck. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #92

Are you always so strident? demwing Apr 2013 #101

Oh yeah you forgot your link for that $11 million claim. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #93

My bad, here ya go. demwing Apr 2013 #100

i am skeptical of some of this .... Botany Apr 2013 #3

tars a bit different though PatrynXX Apr 2013 #14

You can still find small tarballs from a 1969 oil spill on the beaches of Southern California slackmaster Apr 2013 #38

I remember that! demwing Apr 2013 #58

Same here. The drill before re-entering the house included hosing off sand, using lighter fluid... slackmaster Apr 2013 #84

What SoCal beach? demwing Apr 2013 #88

It might suggest the dispersants were an awful bad idea. AtheistCrusader Apr 2013 #20

the dispersant had one purpose and that was to hide as much oil as possible from .... Botany Apr 2013 #32

And from the government. AtheistCrusader Apr 2013 #36

Well, at least they have their priorities straight. Dark n Stormy Knight Apr 2013 #104

Not one species named. Occulus Apr 2013 #4

And because the species are not named in this newspaper article, LTX Apr 2013 #43

And here's an article linking Hazen to $500 million in funding by BP while at berkley labs Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #67

Oh, well. Then Hazen and all of his collaborators must be lying in their research and articles. LTX Apr 2013 #71

Well I see the first 5 are Co-Authored by Hazen. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #73

Um, the grant money went to U.C. Berkeley. Not Hazen individually. LTX Apr 2013 #76

haha, good catch. Methinks your antagonist works for BP, sure sounds like it wordpix Apr 2013 #77

The shills are all out in force on a Kamikaze mission. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #85

Please identify the "research that contradicts the BP funded studies," LTX Apr 2013 #109

No, I'm just disgusted by the science denial demonstrated in this thread. LTX Apr 2013 #110

THIS was part of what Justice Powell was after when he proposed the Powell Manifesto loudsue Apr 2013 #5

That's exactly what the Koch's are doing. Giving to schools so they can dictate who gets hired. judesedit Apr 2013 #13

And NPR. Anything not neoliberal tblue Apr 2013 #24

Forgive me, but what on earth are you talking about? LTX Apr 2013 #45

I know exactly what the research being discussed is about. loudsue Apr 2013 #99

Actually, your post reveals that you know nothing about the research being discussed. LTX Apr 2013 #107

So only one of us....you and me.....has an agenda?? loudsue Apr 2013 #118

And so the question is - LTX Apr 2013 #119

Maybe some Nuke Eating Bacteria are at work on the Fukashima KoKo Apr 2013 #7

Not yet, but they're working on it. Comrade_McKenzie Apr 2013 #11

Further down the article he said this: Harmony Blue Apr 2013 #9

BINGO! That's all three flavors in a bullshit banana split. Poll_Blind Apr 2013 #12

What, precisely, is "bullshit" about it? n/t LTX Apr 2013 #50

Are they expecting us to fall for this? nt brush Apr 2013 #15

Fall for what? Be specific. n/t LTX Apr 2013 #51

fall for your crap, Hazen or BP exec, whoever you are wordpix Apr 2013 #78

Amazing. LTX Apr 2013 #89

Still waiting for you or any of the other BP defenders to refute the USF study. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #95

The USF "study" is not in contradiction to the findings discussed in the o/p LTX Apr 2013 #106

really?! frylock Apr 2013 #16

Well.. OK then.... defacto7 Apr 2013 #17

It's magic! tavalon Apr 2013 #18

No, it's science. There's a difference. n/t LTX Apr 2013 #53

just like WMD in Iraq, "we know it's true b/c we cherry picked the evidence & left out the caveats" wordpix Apr 2013 #79

Oh for crying out loud. LTX Apr 2013 #87

What's all that greasy black stuff washing up on the beach? Fearless Apr 2013 #19

That would be the stuff that surfaced and photo-degraded. TheMadMonk Apr 2013 #23

There's huge money being invested in this being true regardless if it is actually true. Selatius Apr 2013 #21

Riiight. DeSwiss Apr 2013 #22

Umm, you do know the ACS sir pball Apr 2013 #60

Not impressed. n/t DeSwiss Apr 2013 #61

Wear that badge of ignorance proudly! sir pball Apr 2013 #122

Your point? n/t LTX Apr 2013 #64

And then....... Rain Mcloud Apr 2013 #25

They're mutating alright..... DeSwiss Apr 2013 #27

Petroleum causes Cancer and Birth Defects? Who Knew? Rain Mcloud Apr 2013 #29

Mother of god. You really need to learn some rudiments about the topic before you post. n/t LTX Apr 2013 #66

I learned that BP is trying to spin the gulf spill into a positive for the industry. Rain Mcloud Apr 2013 #113

It's ok. You stay calm now. Just pinch your nose . . . and tilt your head back. LTX Apr 2013 #115

We need bacteria that would cosmicone Apr 2013 #26

Even the effin BLOB could not have eaten all that oil, especially that fast! colorado_ufo Apr 2013 #28

I beg to differ. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #30

Terry Hazen, hmmm, where have I heard that name before. Oh that's right! Javaman Apr 2013 #33

Oh brother. You live in a world of hazy knowledge and equally hazy conspiracies. LTX Apr 2013 #47

you got that from that? ` Javaman Apr 2013 #48

Oh, of course. He's just a shill spinning a tale for the government. LTX Apr 2013 #49

That's all real nice, but it still doesn't distract from the fact that he said what he said during Javaman Apr 2013 #54

So what precisely did Hazen say that was wrong? n/t LTX Apr 2013 #56

I guess you didn't read what I posted. Javaman Apr 2013 #57

I did. Now, what was wrong about it? LTX Apr 2013 #63

Terry Hazen - BP shill Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #69

I work full time on the BP oil spill case. The amount of propaganda they spew is huge! Dustlawyer Apr 2013 #34

I agree: NOLA justice sucks! In_The_Wind Apr 2013 #121

Wow - reading the comments here makes me sad jpak Apr 2013 #35

I posted a link to and his bio and that was not good enough ..... Botany Apr 2013 #37

The deeper waters are the GOM are not that cold and there is plenty of DO there. jpak Apr 2013 #41

thanx I am more familiar with surface dwelling critters ...... Botany Apr 2013 #42

Marine prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) rule the waves jpak Apr 2013 #70

Temperature at the bottom is a few degrees above freezing. dipsydoodle Apr 2013 #114

The plume stabilized and spread out at ~1,100 m jpak Apr 2013 #116

It's amazing, isn't it? LTX Apr 2013 #46

Many here on DU are distressed this oil spill didnt turn out to be the catastrophy they wanted. DCBob Apr 2013 #59

It was a disaster - and we do not know the full extent of the damage jpak Apr 2013 #65

Nobody is saying this was not a major disaster. LTX Apr 2013 #68

of course it was.. DCBob Apr 2013 #72

yes nature has a way - it only took 15,000 years after the last Ice Age to bring the ecosystem back wordpix Apr 2013 #80

ok the crack about DUers wanting a catastrophy was a bit over the top.. DCBob Apr 2013 #83

and then the bacteria were eaten by the next stop on the food chain RedstDem Apr 2013 #62

^^ This. n/t winter is coming Apr 2013 #97

Wow, I love how so many in this thread sound like creationists and other dismissive teabaggers. phleshdef Apr 2013 #91

Really? Give this research a chance. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #94

I think BP funding it is definately worth noting, but its doesn't discredit it or give merit phleshdef Apr 2013 #96

I'm being a realist and USF's findings are real. Ganja Ninja Apr 2013 #98

+ about a million. It would be extremely naive to fail to suspect and look for oil industry Dark n Stormy Knight Apr 2013 #108

USF research on the gulf oil spill is directly funded by BP, LTX Apr 2013 #120

Once again, please describe in detail what is contradictory between the USF "study" and the LTX Apr 2013 #111

I think few would dispute there was a massive die off of creatures wherever the oil plume went. DCBob Apr 2013 #112

I've heard of flesh-eating bacteria but never oil-eating bacteria. Is oil the first course asjr Apr 2013 #102

good paper and sure bacteria that consume oil must have increased, there was oil there for them. Sunlei Apr 2013 #105