1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here. Some types of bacteria are known for 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: their ability to survive extreme conditions, from high temperatures to 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: chemical attacks to dehydration, but for how long are they 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: really viable? In A team of scientists dried a collection 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: of bacteria, sealed those specimens away in small glass vials, 7 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: and in five hundred years, some researcher will have the 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: honor of bringing the long lived study to a close. 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: The five century long experiment was conceived by researchers at 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: Scotland's University of Edinburgh, who teamed up with German and 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: American scientists in hopes of advancing human kinds understanding of 12 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: bacteria longevity. A major catch, none of them, or their 13 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: children or great great grandchildren are likely to be around 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: to see the results. In an email interview, Charles Cockle, 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: one of these scientists involved with the project, said the 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: motivation for the experiment was straightforward quote. Most science experiments 17 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: were on grant or human lifespans, but nature works over 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: long time periods. We wanted to create an experiment that 19 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: was more aligned to the length of time of interest 20 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: for studying microbes. For the experiment, team members filled eight 21 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,839 Speaker 1: hundred vials with one of two types of bacteria, Crococca 22 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: diiopsis or Baccillus subtalis. The former is a true survivor, 23 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: a very primitive bacterium often found in extremely inhospitable environments 24 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: from hot springs to deserts. The latter is one of 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: the most studied bacterium in all of science, one that 26 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: can revert to a dormant state, surrounding itself with a 27 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: spore and basically going into hibernation when it's subjected to 28 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: environmental changes. The glass files the scientists filled were completely 29 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: sealed off from air, and half of them were shrouded 30 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: and lead to thwart the possible effects of radiation or 31 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: other potential interferences that could cause DNA damage. For the 32 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: first quarter century, scientists will check on the bacteria every 33 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: other year to see if they're still viable. Then the 34 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: check up schedule will shift to once every twenty five 35 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: years until the five hundred year test is over. The 36 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: actual tests are easy, simply requiring a basic rehydration process 37 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: and counting the bacteria colonies. But what's the best way 38 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,839 Speaker 1: to describe the experiment to people four hundred years into 39 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: the future. Instructions were printed on paper and also stored 40 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: to a flash drive, with the explicit request that researchers 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: update the verbiage and technologies when they perform their twenty 42 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: five year checks. The first analyzes were conducted in with 43 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: results published in December the GIST. After two years of isolation, 44 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: bacteria spores demonstrated hardly any decrease in viability. Some of 45 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 1: the surviving spores were then purposefully exposed too tougher conditions 46 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: like high salt levels or a spacelike vacuum. These specimens 47 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: then showed an increased loss of viability. But what's the 48 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: best case scenario of such a long term project, the 49 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: Cockle said, there isn't an ideal outcome as such. We 50 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: want to learn how quickly microbes die and what mathematical 51 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: function describes their death over century time scales. Some by 52 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: tiria are so durable that they can remain viable for 53 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: tens of millions of years, provided they're preserved in one 54 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: form or another. For example, scientists have revived bacteria immersed 55 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: in twenty five million year old tree sap and also 56 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: from the carcasses of creatures like beetles that were trapped 57 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,399 Speaker 1: in amber a hundred and thirty five million years ago. 58 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: Other researchers found that bacteria in New Mexico salt deposits 59 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: were still viable after two hundred and fifty million years. 60 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Nathan Chandler and produced by 61 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: Tyler Clay for iHeart Media and How Stuff Works. For 62 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other topics with the 63 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: future in mind, visit our home planet, how stuff Works 64 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: dot com.