4 ms·
Very hard to do because silicon dioxide (aka quartz / glass) forms an inert physical barrier to prevent further oxidation. Kinetics and diffusion say no!
by HPsquared 1y ago
Very hard to do because silicon dioxide (aka quartz / glass) forms an inert physical barrier to prevent further oxidation. Kinetics and diffusion say no!
- johnisgood 1y agoCan you elaborate on this? Nothing could get through that barrier? Like is it impossible for fungi to do that?
- throwanem 1y agoHF-secreting microorganisms with a tropism for a material extremely common in the human environment? No way that could go wrong.
- johnisgood 1y agoI'm not asking if it could go "wrong", which is a matter of perspective though.
- amelius 1y agoI guess you can see it can't work because glass is typically the material used by scientists to contain microbes.
- johnisgood 11mo agoYeah, I just wonder if it is entirely impossible, or there MAY be a way, even if theoretically (so far). Or is it like "it certainly can never happen"?
- throwanem 11mo agoYou imply microorganisms capable of digesting glass, stone, and sand, via a hydrofluoric-acid-concentrating biochemistry that I suspect is not even remotely possible in Earth's atmosphere, which is something of a relief because if it did happen, it would almost certainly end all other life on Earth within a span of years to decades.
- johnisgood 11mo agoI do not imply their existence. My question is, can they exist or is it completely impossible, even theoretically?
- throwanem 11mo agoNothing is impossible in theory.
- johnisgood 11mo agoOK, well, is it completely impossible in practice? I just want to get educated! Gosh.