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Is this significantly harder than surviving the freezing process for 1 year? Once frozen, I would have thought most chemical reactions slowed to a negligible pa
by Jabbles 11y ago
Is this significantly harder than surviving the freezing process for 1 year? Once frozen, I would have thought most chemical reactions slowed to a negligible pace, making the time they spend frozen irrelevant.
- SixSigma 11y agoOxidation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezer_burn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezer_burn
- stargazer-3 11y agoBut that shouldn't be a problem for tardigrades frozen in a block of ice, because they are not in direct contact with air.
- SixSigma 11y agoI would suspect that some of the oxygen from the water is liberated occasionally.
- refurb 11y agoA quick google search didn't turn up anything, but I'd suspect that water spontaneously liberating oxygen is a very rare occurrence. Oxygen is in a high oxidation state and once reduced to water is quite stable. In order for oxygen to form from water, you'd need an oxidizer of considerable power (e.g. ozone?).
- stargazer-3 11y agoPerhaps, although oxygen is a quite heavy element, and doesn't jump around in ices as much as hydrogen does.
- 88e282102ae2e5b 11y agoYes. Reactions are definitely slower but they're not negligible. Some proteins and chemicals only last a few months at -80°C.
- Jabbles 11y agoCould you give me an example? I couldn't find many figures on protein half lives.