Dog Ma /18/04
reply w/o spam

>
> "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" wrote:
>>> 2) Perhaps your new environment has some unusually vigorous airborne
> bacteria
>>> that go to work on your spent tea leaves overnight.
>>
>> This is indeed a poser. If there are some mysterious airborne critters
>> they are unaffected by 90C water. And they grow nowhere else. Not that I
>> normally keep bunches of wet leaves lying around the place.
>> ... If it is
>> somehow contaminated or comes bearing some evil thermophilic life from
>> another planet, surely someone would have noticed by now. Also, about a
>> month ago, the packaging changed to vacuum-sealed bags. Now we have a
>> life form that tolerates high temperatures and the vacuum of space.
>
>
> Working upwards...
>
> The vacuum of space is a pretty hostile place for bugs, but not because of
> the vacuum. The killer is radiation, from UV to gamma plus charged
> particles. Many small life-forms can tolerate dehydration and cold.

You speak of course of carbon based life forms, which my sources inform me
*most* of you are.
>
> There certainly are bacteria that can live in near-boiling water. The key
> enabler for both DNA testing and much of biotech is an enzyme call TAq
> polymerase, from a bug called thermus aquaticus collected in a Yellowstone
> boiling pool. There's something living in virtually every known wet
> environment below 100C, and who knows what remains to be found? Everywhere
> from deep mines laden with toxic metals, surface hot springs, and the "cool"
> zones around deep-sea vents. Not to mention man-made places around power
> plants, etc.

Watch the skies...and the deeps....
>
> It's axiomatic that life will assert itself in every possible environment,
> and "possible" can stretch itself. For example, thermophilic bacteria have
> evolved special fats in their cell membranes that make them more physically
> stable at high temperatures.

Not to mention delicious, but alas unhealthy.
>
> It's not clear from what's been said so far that it is an infection, though
> that seems likely. Other explanations are possible. I would suggest an
> inoculation experiment: make some strong tea, and leave it in a glass with a
> bit of the gloop and a small piece of leaf.

Perhaps using plain water instead of agar-agar as a brewing medium would
suffice?
>
> Some bacteria and molds certainly do give off mucopolysaccharides and other
> viscous or gelling polymers; a few are even harvested commercially. It's
> entirely possible that a bug or mold evolved in hot tea, rests dormant at
> lower temperatures or when dry, and has back-infected tea at the source.
> Might be fun to send a sample to a university bio lab - they might be very
> interested. Might even turn out to be good for something, like a natural
> thickener for green-tea ice cream.

Commercial value. Some country, America. We could sell your slime to third
world countries as a miracle cure. My government will support you.

Seriously,...[actually, I'll leave that non sequitur to Dog Ma]

Well, I make light of it, but I'll betcha this is just the way yogurt came
into the world. Go for it, guys.

Michael