Biologists discover electric bacteria that eat pure electrons rather than sugar

[goodsamaritan]

Biologists discover electric bacteria that eat pure electrons rather than sugar, redefining the tenacity of life

By Sebastian Anthony on July 18, 2014 at 8:51 am

Some intrepid biologists at the University of Southern California (USC) have discovered bacteria that survives on nothing but electricity — rather than food, they eat and excrete pure electrons. These bacteria yet again prove the almost miraculous tenacity of life — but, from a technology standpoint, they might also prove to be useful in enabling the creation of self-powered nanoscale devices that clean up pollution.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/186537-biologists-discover-electric-bacteria-that-eat-pure-electrons-rather-than-sugar-redefining-the-tenacity-of-life

[cherimoya_kid]

Impressive.

[sabertooth]

It reminds me of a more primitive form of the Crystalline Entity from star trek. This is pure speculation...but, Perhaps such entities if allowed to evolve under the right circumstances could give rise to a completely different form of intelligent life. Which leads us to speculate that extra terrestrial life forms are not limited to the Goldilocks zones, and organisms which do not require photosynthesis could be prevalent thought the cosmos.

Thinking about how plants produce energy from light photons, it seems reasonable that some organisms could evolve to directly harness the charges of electrons instead.