You tiny little lifeforms: Smallest organism ever just discovered!

[Alan_Smithee]

From the *NY Times*. (May require registration.)

According to the article, scientists have found archaea (formerly called archaebacteria, the kingdom from which forms a clade separate from bacteria and eukaryotes) living in a pool of toxic sludge from a mine in Northern California. These archaea are one-fifth the average size of a bacterium, about as big as a large virus!

I love learning new facts about the universe! ::sigh:: Why’d I have to major in stupid useless Humanities in college?

[Alan_Smithee]

Aw, shit. Somebody ask the mods to fix that link, please!

[MerryMagdalen]

Yay! Archaea are so fascinating!

[Ice_Wolf]

This world never ceases to amaze.

[Shirley_Ujest]

Whoville discovered!

[Harmonious_Discord]

I was under the impression that there was much contension that it is or isn’t a new lifeform.

[What_Exit]

[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord]
I was under the impression that there was much contension that it is or isn’t a new lifeform.
[/QUOTE]

That seems to be addressed at the end of the article.

The microbes are about 200 nanometers wide — the size of large viruses, which scientists consider lifeless because they cannot reproduce on their own. Bacteria average about five times that size.

The scientists must do further tests to confirm that the organisms are the smallest ever found, and that they can reproduce. If those analyses hold up, they said in their Science paper, “it may be necessary to reconsider existing paradigms for the minimum requirements for life.”

[bbs2k]

[QUOTE=Alan Smithee]
These archaea are one-fifth the average size of a bacterium, about as big as a large virus!
[/QUOTE]

The Pox virus is so large that it is almost the size of bacteria. My professor used to tell me that it was just shy of being microscopically visible using a simple high powered microscope (i.e. x1000).