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Robert L. Folk began teaching sedimentary geology at UTex in 1952. In 1990 he discovered the first geological nannobacteria [dwarf forms, 0.1 micron] in CaCO3 minerals from hot sprimgs, Viterbo, Italy (publ. 1992,1993). Similar features were later discovered by NASA in the Martian meteorite. Scorned by biologists as "too small for life", the battle goes on. My own piece of ALH84001 yielded quantitative data on sizes/shapes of Martian nannobacteria--same as those culturable from Barton Springs water{2002 Met&PlanSci}. Colleague Brenda Kirkland at Mississippi State Univ. has now made TEMs of Viterbo nannobacteria that show objects with ribosomes smaller than 0.09 microns. , and objects with cell walls as small as 0.05 micron. Either Mars had nannobacteria, or God has played a great joke on science. | ||
