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2-bn-year-old rock harbors living microbes, rewrites life's history (interestingengineering.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

one that eats sulfur and excretes iron, and one that eats iron and excretes sulfur

Thermodynamically, how could these two cycles sustain metabolism? Were there other processes/species in the mix to introduce chemical compounds that had more energy contained within?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I don't recall as it was mentioned by someone in passing (and stuck with me) but I can tell you that the rocks they were in are exceptionally iron rich, which is why the mine was there.