Yesterday NASA announced that they have discovered a form of life that is not poisoned by arsenic. In fact, the bacteria they found uses arsenic in it's DNA and other biological structures instead of phosphorous. The lake in which they found this bacteria is rich in arsenic. To survive, the bacteria had to take the poison into itself and transmute it into something useful. The scientists showed though that the bacteria thrives better with phosphorous; it just has adapted to the environment.
I've been thinking about the current obsession with zombies. Movies, TV show and games all showing an end of the world that is being called the Zombie Apocalypse. One of the TV shows that I've watched is filmed here in Atlanta (sidebar: why do we still call it "filmed" when there is probably no real film involved anymore?). I've watched it just to see familiar places on the small screen, really, no other reason. K and I discussed some of these things yesterday; First, is this a real poison and if it is I wonder how much of this poison we are taking into ourselves and allowing it to become a part of our DNA.
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