- cross-posted to:
- science@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- science@beehaw.org
Scientists have unearthed the remnants of more than 1,700 viruses from deep inside a glacier in western China. Most of these viruses are new to science.
With this discovery, the number of ancient viruses recovered from glaciers has grown fiftyfold.The viruses, gathered from a 1,000-foot ice core taken from the sprawling Guliya Glacier on the Tibetan Plateau, date back 41,000 years and span three major shifts from cold to warm.
Ancient viruses?! We’re all gonna die!
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Most viruses are completely harmless to humans. There are millions of species, of which only a few hundred are medically significant. I doubt these frozen viruses will have any noticeable impact on anything.
True, but all it takes is one.