Unexplainable Intraterrestrials
33 snips
Apr 2, 2025 
Karen Lloyd, a microbiologist and author of "Intraterrestrials: Discovering the Strangest Life on Earth," discusses the remarkable life forms found in ocean mud that defy classification. She reveals how these so-called intraterrestrials survive for eons without reproduction and reshape our understanding of evolution. Lloyd highlights the tranquility of single-celled organisms in the deep sea and how their resilience poses intriguing questions about natural selection. This captivating journey explores the hidden microbial world and its mysteries.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Microbial Hibernation
- Deep-sea microbes survive on incredibly low energy, like a person living on two sticks of celery a week.
- They achieve this by essentially hibernating and prioritizing self-repair over growth or reproduction.
Ancient Microbes
- Deep-sea microbes challenge reproduction assumptions by barely reproducing, perhaps living for millions of years.
- This could make some microbes older than human evolution, living at a geological pace.
The 24-Hour Human Analogy
- Imagine humans living only 24 hours, experiencing only winter, puzzled by dormant trees.
- Karen Lloyd suggests deep-sea microbes' slow lives might be similar, waiting for a "spring" we can't perceive.