Latest news with #UniversityofMinnesotaDuluth
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious ‘ship goo' contains new life forms
It came from the deep: a viscous black gunk oozing from the rudder shaft of a ship. At the end of August 2024, the crew of the Great Lakes research vessel R/V Blue Heron, first spotted the substance when the boat was brought to a Cleveland shipyard for propeller repairs. From the outset, no one was sure what to make of it, according to Doug Ricketts, Marine Superintendent at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Large Lakes Observatory. The muck looked like thick grease or oil, Ricketts tells Popular Science, but the rudder shaft wasn't supposed to be lubricated by anything more than lake water. Instead of a strong petroleum odor, the goop had a metallic smell. It also didn't leave a sheen on water, nor burn up in a blowtorch flame, during informal tests conducted by Blue Heron Captain Rual Lee. So, what was it? On the quest for answers, Ricketts brought a paper coffee cup half-filled with the mystery goop (labeled 'ship goo' in haphazard marker strokes) to university scientists. Laboratory analysis has prompted more questions than clarity, but the initial assessment of the 'ship goo' yielded at least one startling discovery. The mysterious tar-like material contained previously unidentified forms of life. 'I really didn't think we'd get anything, to be honest,' Cody Sheik, a microbial ecologist at the University of Minnesota Duluth tells Popular Science. 'Usually, when you're given a cup of tar,' you don't expect much, he adds. Under that assumption, he 'handed it off to a graduate student and said 'good luck'.' The graduate student successfully extracted DNA from the goo, defying Sheik's initial expectations– but still, he thought it might be routine sample contamination. It was only after the lab sent the extracted DNA off for preliminary, single-gene sequencing that Sheik realized he was in uncharted territory. When the results came back, he was shocked. 'A lot of the sequences came out really novel. I was like, 'oh, oh no, okay– this is a whole different story',' he says. [ Related: Pollution-eating microbes are thriving in infamous NYC canal. ] For a deeper look into the goo's microbial makeup, Sheik and his colleagues sent the sample for a second round of sequencing. This time, they examined the whole genomes inside of the goo, instead of just a single key gene region. The analysis confirmed that, though the goop microbes weren't especially diverse, they were unique. They reconstructed the genomes of more than 20 microbes, and compared them to comprehensive databases of previously identified organisms. According to Sheik, they found several novel archaea– members of a domain of single-celled, prokaryotic life that are distinguished from bacteria by their cell membrane composition. One of the microbes they found represents, not just a new species, but an entirely new order of archaea. For now, the scientists are officially referring to it as ShipGoo01. Another promising, oddball microbe could be a whole new bacterial phylum, Sheik says. If confirmed, that would probably be christened ShipGoo002. Others, too, might prove new to science. 'There's several of them that may be new genus, may be new families, for sure,' he notes. ShipGoo01 seems to be anaerobic, meaning it prefers an oxygen-free environment. Other microbes in the goo seem to gobble oxygen up and Sheik suggests that it's possible these exist in a mutually beneficial balance. Of the more familiar microbes and genetic markers, database comparison indicates that the bulk of the teeny tiny organisms are similar to those associated with oil wells, tar pits, and other hydrocarbon systems. Several seem to be related to microorganisms with international origins– from places like Germany. 'That's been kind of fun– trying to figure out where [it's from] and why it's in the rudder system here. It's becoming quite baffling,' Sheik says. In part, again, because the Blue Heron's rudder isn't regularly greased with oil, and because it sails on the Great Lakes in the Midwest. The ship hasn't always been in University of Minnesota custody. It was purchased pre-owned in 1997, Ricketts says, so it's entirely possible that the prior owners of the vessel did apply some sort of petroleum-based lubricant to the rudder shaft. But generally microbes need a steady food supply. Without any additional influx of grease in over 25 years, it's hard to know what the oil-associated microbes might be eating after all this time. Perhaps they're subsisting off of the metal itself, though Ricketts notes that the rudder shaft didn't look particularly damaged. Maybe organic matter from the lake water feeds the micro-beasts. Or maybe some secret third thing is going on. 'The more we start getting into this, the more I'm kind of clueless here,' Sheik says. 'We're doing a lot of sleuthing to try to figure this thing out.' He's hoping to get better answers on what the microbes are floating around in, and all of the microbial metabolic pathways present in the goop. Sheik also imagines using chemical isotope analysis down the line to establish where the atoms in the system are coming from. The carbon and nitrogen in algae, for instance, have a very different profile from the equivalent molecules in motor lube. 'It's like a 1,000 piece puzzle that we're trying to put together,' without any picture on the box to go off of, Sheik says. Once more of the image becomes clear, his lab plans to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. [Related: Can microbes that devour plastic waste be transformed into food for humans?] But there's one big challenge the scientists might not be able to overcome. The cup of goo (comprising about 100 milliliters of gunk) was the only sample taken, and getting more could be difficult–nigh impossible. The ship would have to be put in dry dock, with the rudder, once again, disassembled. And 'unfortunately, they did a really good job cleaning it last time before they put it back,' Sheik says. The rest of the ship goo 'may be lost forever.' Or maybe not. 'I don't think this ship is unique. I really strongly suspect that if you took the rudder post of any ship anywhere, there's a possibility of finding some organism–maybe a new organism–in that space,' Ricketts says. Before this, it would've been easy for him to imagine strange microorganisms popping up in a ship galley or on a fuel filter. But of all the places for something like this to be found, the mechanical rudder shaft at the far end of a ship is among the weirdest, Ricketts says. It just goes to prove, 'microbes are everywhere.' To better understand more of those undiscovered lifeforms, hiding in plain sight, Sheik says his lab would need secure funding and resources. Like many university science labs that rely, in large part, on taxpayer dollars, the future of his work is up in the air. 'Right now we're in this weird spot where we're just trying to struggle to keep our labs open,' he says. He worries that, moving forward, we'll miss out on ShipGoo3– but also on all the would-be advances that might come from it. Many prior microbe discoveries have proved useful in fields as varied as waste management and pollution remediation to life-saving drug development. 'As these dollars go away, our ability to do this primary research that can drive innovation goes away and could be lost for a very long time.'
NDTV
11-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Mysterious Goo-Like Life Form Found On Ship In US: "Venom Showing Up Wasn't On My Bingo Card"
Scientists have discovered a mysterious new life form aboard a ship that docked in Cleveland, Ohio, last September. The strange "goo" like lifeform was present on the research vessel Blue Heron when it was pulled out of Lake Erie into the Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, to fix a noisy propeller shaft. During the maintenance check, Captain Rual Lee noticed a previously unknown microorganism, thriving in the warm, oxygen-free environment of the rudder shaft. The colour and consistency of the tar-like substance surprised Mr Lee, who plopped it in water to see if it left a sheen. It didn't, prompting Mr Lee to use a blowtorch to see if the slimy substance would burn. It didn't do that either, Baffled by the alien material, Doug Ricketts, marine superintendent for the Blue Heron, collected the goo in a sample bag and shipped it for the experts at the University of Minnesota Duluth to investigate, according to a report in Cody Sheik, an associate professor at the university and an expert in microbial ecology, used chemicals to crack open the cells of the goo and the microscopic inner workings. The substance, which is thought to be a single-celled organism, is now being temporarily called ShipGoo1. "The biggest surprise was that the ship goo had life in it at all," said Mr Sheik, adding: "We thought we'd find nothing. But surprisingly, we found DNA and it wasn't too destroyed, nor was the biomass too low." Sequencing the DNA and comparing it to global databases, the team found that the goo contained a species unknown to science. "It's fun science. By calling it ship goo for now, it brings some joy to our science. We can find novelty wherever we look." Mr Sheik initially thought the goo was old grease, until learning that the rudder post, where it was oozing from, is only lubricated with water from the lake. It's possible ShipGoo001 is carbon-based and derived from stuff floating in the water, he added. Social media reacts As the news of the discovery went viral, a section of social media users said it was a bad idea to explore the material, while others drew similarities between the goo and the Venom symbiote. "A mysterious living black could go wrong?" said one user while another added: "We don't have time for venom to run around Cleveland." A fourth said: "Venom showing up was not on my 2025 bingo card."
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Book excerpt: 'The War at Home: Minnesota During the Great War, 1914-1920'
Black men depart Duluth's Union Station for St. Paul to join Twin Cities draftees for the journey to the segregated Camp Dodge. (Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections) When I was young my grandfather told me that he emigrated from Austria-Hungary as a teenager in 1907 to avoid being drafted into the army of the Habsburg Empire. Like many Europeans, he was trying to avoid the big war that seemed to be coming. As it turned out, migrating to Chicago was not enough. In 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and conscripted men to fight in Europe, requiring all men 21 to 30 to register. My grandfather showed up on June 5, 1917, the national registration day. According to family lore, he would have done anything, even broken his arm, to avoid being drafted. Fortunately, his draft board exempted him because he was married and had a 4-year-old son. Unfortunately, his wife died in November 1918, a victim of the influenza pandemic that spread across the country largely through the army's huge training camps. My grandfather's experience was my first glimpse of the wrenching impact of World War I on individual Americans. People 'make their own history,' Karl Marx observed, 'but they do not make it just as they please.' We are born into a specific set of geographic, social, cultural and economic circumstances that open opportunities, at least for some, but also puts limits on individual lives — limits that for many are stark and brutal. The impact of world-changing events on individuals comes into sharp focus during times of massive social upheaval, like periods of invasion or total mobilization for war. Leo Tolstoy famously demonstrated this in 'War and Peace.' Once Napoleon decided to invade Russia with a huge army, the lives of every Russian in his path would never be the same. A century later, Vasily Grossman, another great Russian writer, wrote two massive novels showing how Hitler's army, even larger than Napoleon's army, trampled on the personal life of every Soviet citizen, particularly those of Jewish ancestry. The impact of World War I on Europeans needs no introduction. The armies of the belligerent states suffered more than 30 million casualties, of which about 10 million were fatalities from combat or disease. The wounded were often permanently disabled or horribly disfigured. Millions of civilians also perished, often the victims of war crimes. Postwar Europe was a continent of mourners, especially the 3 million war widows. Personal lives were thrown up for grabs by the collapse of the Russian, German, Habsburg and Ottoman empires. Even victorious countries like Britain and France limped into the 1920s in debt and clinging precariously to their empires. The stage was set for fascism, which also came to have a profound impact on individual lives. Americans also experienced serious disruptions in daily life during World War I, even though our country entered the war late and suffered only a small fraction of the casualties sustained by Europeans. Citizens faced a massive propaganda campaign to build support for the war, as well as food rationing, aggressive Liberty Bond drives, government-sanctioned vigilantism, prosecutions under the Espionage Act for dissenting speech, and of course, the drafting of young men, many of whom had recently arrived from Europe to escape conscription. There was no avoiding the war even half a world away from the Western Front. When the conflagration broke out in Europe in 1914, Americans were living through a wrenching transition to a new, centralized form of industrial capitalism, dominated by corporations rather than entrepreneurs, where 'trusts' held near monopolistic power in banking, mining, steel and transport. Industrialization stimulated relocation, immigrants continued arriving from Europe, and Black Americans began the Great Migration to northern cities. Economic inequality reached astounding levels, with men like Carnegie and Rockefeller rich beyond belief while millions lived at subsistence levels. As passionately divided as Americans were about the war, it was hardly the only source of tension. The United States entered World War I during a contentious period when farmer and worker militancy challenged entrenched economic power, the elected mayors in several cities (including Minneapolis) were Socialist Party members, Black Americans struggled against Jim Crow and white nationalist terrorism, women were in their final surge toward suffrage, and millions campaigned for 'prohibition' in the belief that alcohol was a fundamental source of the country's problems. As David Kennedy wrote in his indispensable book on the American home front, 'Americans went to war in 1917 not only against Germans in the fields of France but against each other at home.' What happened on the home front, he continued, 'was a deadly serious contest to determine the consequences of the crisis for the character of American economic, social and political life.' Over a century later many find it hard to believe that relatively peaceful and well-mannered Minnesota was an explosive hotspot in this 'war at home.' Exploring Minnesota's history from the beginning of the European war in August 1914 through the 1920 election provides a unique vantage point from which to assess the impact of World War I on American society. Those years in Minnesota were marked by bitter political polarization, ethnic intolerance, a flagrant disregard for democratic norms and the rule of law by business leaders, and intense conflicts sometimes punctuated by violence. This was partly the result of timing. The controversial declaration of war on Germany coincided with an intense period of battles between Minnesota's grain milling industry, mining conglomerate, big banks, and railroads on the one hand — and the organizations representing farmers and workers on the other. The success of the Nonpartisan League in organizing farmers and the influence of the Industrial Workers of the World among miners and loggers sent shock waves through the state's business elite. As a result, ongoing economic, social, and political conflicts merged with new ones generated by the war and the draft. Soon, editors of German-language newspapers were investigated as possible spies, farmers arguing for market equity were attacked as 'disloyal,' and workers trying to get union contracts were branded as 'Bolsheviks.' As war was declared, the Legislature created the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety and gave it nearly unlimited power until the armistice. The commission consisted of Gov. Joseph Burnquist, the attorney general, and five men appointed by the governor, mostly conservative businessmen. John McGee became the dominant personality in this powerful body, and until the war ended, the most powerful man in Minnesota. McGee was the oldest son of Irish immigrant farmers, and he became a successful Minneapolis lawyer representing banks and railroads. He set a tone of uncompromising nationalism and maintained that anything less than 100% support for the war effort was treasonous. McGee focused on building the Home Guard, an armed force available to enforce 'loyalty,' curb the growing political power of angry farmers, and block trade unions trying to break through employers' resistance to collective bargaining. For McGee, the most dangerously disloyal man in the state was Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr., the Little Falls lawyer who in 1914 was elected to his fifth consecutive term in the United States Congress. Lindbergh, the only son of Swedish immigrant farmers, had emerged as a leader of the Minnesota Republican Party's progressive wing. While in Congress, he fought a determined battle to limit the power of Wall Street bankers. Lindbergh's radical populism put him in the same camp as Robert La Follette, known as 'Fighting Bob,' the fiery senator from Wisconsin. Having left Congress, Lindbergh accepted the nomination of the Nonpartisan League to run against Joseph Burnquist in the 1918 Republican primary for governor. Their electoral battle was the climax of the war for the Minnesota home front, and the most violent campaign in Minnesota history. Lindbergh is one of the most important figures in Minnesota political history but largely forgotten, eclipsed by the fame of his aviator son who bears his name. * * * Although Minnesota's home front experience was the product of a particular confluence of events and personalities, the issues it raises have not been left safely in the past. Studying this history can alert us to how extreme economic inequality can warp democracy, how patriotism can be used to suppress fundamental rights, how politicians can harness racism and anti-immigrant nationalism to further their agendas, and how the wealthy sometimes resort to authoritarianism when their power is threatened. Hopefully exploring these years of sharp polarization can help us navigate our own perilous times. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CBS News
24-02-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Ice-Out Clock helps you forecast when your favorite Minnesota lake will be ice-free
A new tool from the University of Minnesota Duluth offers Minnesotans an estimate of when their favorite lakes will shed their winter layers. This year, Minnesota Sea Grant has added a feature to its Minnesota Lakes Ice-Out Clock allowing users to look up a forecast for specific lakes. "We anticipate that seasonal businesses and outdoor enthusiasts will find value in our ice-out forecasting tool," Minnesota Sea Grant director and project leader John Downing said. "Because Minnesota's economy and well-being is deeply tied to its lakes, ice-out forecasting plays a major role in helping businesses maximize their sometimes short operating windows and helps people seeking outdoor recreation opportunities adapt to changing weather outcomes." The program said the tool uses historical records and data from the National Weather Service and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to estimate when ice-out will occur on a given lake. To obtain a forecast, users can go to the Ice-Out Clock website, select a county and then select a lake. They'll be given three forecasts based on seasonal snowfall levels: low, average and high. This can be estimated using data from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Forecasts will be available each year starting Jan. 1, so users can track the changing forecast throughout the season. The tool becomes more accurate as the season progresses. Minnesota Sea Grant notes that the tool estimates when lakes will be free of ice, but it does not show when ice is safe. "Ice conditions can and do change rapidly, and safety is the responsibility of each individual," the program said. The program will host a free webinar on March 7 to discuss this year's ice-out forecast. While ice-out may still be distant for many lakes, the DNR is urging those with a fish house on one of the state's frozen lakes to start making plans to remove it. For those in the lower two-thirds of the state, the deadline for removal is March 3, while those further north have until March 17.
