Page 96 - Microbes News Today

Firepower directed towards these things or no? >> no. certainly there are individual efforts and theres certainly individual interest in investing in research towards remediation and recovery. but by and far it has been outpaced by the investment made in engineering and drilling technologies. talking about ecology for the moment, one of the issues is when have you a sheen like this it prevents gas exchange. so the oxygen gets trapped or it gets stripped out of the water and the soil as microbes ...

Doesnt help solve anything. i think if he united the american people and say, i want the best ideas i can find, what kind of ideas do you have, come tell me and we can implement them. >> cal, to your point, we do understand that the obama administration is looking at at least 13 ways of dealing with this oil spill, this oil crisis, including using microbes. we talked about that just a couple of weeks ago. richard, i want to get you in, but i want to show you another graph about the president and...

Spill are reduced about 30%. they say while that can be a bad thing for marine life, the positive side here is that it could show there are microbes eating away at the oil. if thats the case, nature is doing its part in cleaning up this massive mess. shannon. >> thank you very much with the latest. the crews of the space shuttle atlantis is getting used to its new home at the international space station. the shuttle docked less than two hours ago. first order of business is to expect a shuttles ...

First time these chemical agents are being used under the surface. there is some cautious optimism, but at the same time, there is concern that considerable damage could be done. let me talk for one moment about these plumes. we have some photographs that have not been seen before taken by a research ship that was out in the gulf for the last two weeks. youre looking at those photographs right now. it is the researchers on this ship that say that they found large plumes of oil out in the gulf. o...

One measured ten miles in length three miles wide. the plumes attract microbes that eat the oil but they are using the oxygen that would otherwise be used for undersea wildlife. so the amount of oxygen measured near the plumes is down about 30%. that, gregg, they say could cause long term environmental impact. not entirely clear how much damage. they have taken water samples and testing is underway. >> gregg: thanks very much. >> spate shuttle is now at the international space station. it docked...

Shes underscoring that they have been preapproved and as far as they know, the intent is to break up the oil into droplets and that the microbes in the water will help eat the oil. thats the latest update. still no definitive solutions. the oil is still spilling. but well continue to monitor this press conference and other developments taking place there. at least this press conference taking place out of robert, louisiana. well bring more as soon as we know more. we will take a short break righ...

Scary stuff i. know theyll use chemicals and there has been criticism that they dont really know what the chemical also do, but theyre using it and whats the latest on that? >> reporter: early on they were using chemicals that would break up the oil. on the surface they were applied. that is historically how theyve been used. thats the accepted practice. now for the first time, these chemicals are being used under water and that has a lot of people very, very nervous. what these chemicals essent...

Dispersant has never been used before, underneath the surface of the water. it has never been used in this kind of quantity. government officials saying theyre going to be monitoring this and watching this very closely. but that fear remains what long-term effects this might be having on the environment. this is a toxic material, it is not as toxic as the oil theyre using it against, but it is still could have consequences. we just dont know what this is going to bring in the future. >> david ma...

>> this is ed lavandera with cnn. question about the dispersants. how much was in store already that you guys have been able to use and have you put out an order for more? i guess im getting to the issue of there are many people who believe that there are less toxic, environmentally friendlier, cheaper ways of doing this. there is some concern that orders have gone out for more dispersants and i guess people are wondering why you havent bought those and stuck with i guess -- >> yeah. let me star...

Washing ashore. you spring them powder substance on to the oil and within weeks it turns into dirt. it is made from sugar cane and fibers and also it has microbes that actually eat the oil. and then check this out. this is from a material. the same material used to make bags of rice and dog food. >> wow! the material there and it they call it the quicker oil picker upper. different companies that have come up with ideas and people who are just saying, hey, ive got a solution. >> they want to hel...