Okay, they're a distant relative, but they're still a single celled organsim."There are things on heaven and earth undreampt of in your philosophy" indeed. That this species could be almost 2 billion years old has my jaw on the floor.

__________________
We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

Good find Tuckerfan. I found this the most interesting:Of course, there's a big IF in there, but it might help improve our understanding of the fossil record one day.

Ohhh!!! Now I know that sci-fi movie about the Monster that devoured Cleveland was real! (too bad I have a couple of cool friends there...) pete

__________________
A third rate theory forbids.
A second rate theory explains after the fact.
A first rate theory predicts.
A. Lomonosov

The only monster devouring Cleveland today is the Lake Erie Snow Machine.

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Reminded me of this.

__________________
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

That amoeba story is out of this world.

Grape sized unicellular organisms?

Wow...

__________________
WANTED:

Schroedinger's Cat

Dead And Alive

There are some very big foraminfera out there, which are protozoans. I have seen seagreas beds coated with Marinopera which are the size of a small coin. Mind you, they do cheat, being poly-nucleate and having zooanthellae.

Jon

Do they taste like chicken?

__________________
We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

Somehow I think the article wasn't about a giant ameoba.

But many proteous have many nucleous without defined cell walls.

So I think they cheated on the article making sound like giant ameoba wirh one nucleous.

But as a easy way to raise a giant ameoba is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_(amoeba)

'Chaos is a genus of giant amoebae, varying from 1-5 mm in length. They are closely related to Amoeba, and share the same general morphology, producing numerous cylindrical pseudopods. However, Chaos have several hundred nuclei, while Amoeba only have one. '

Exposing your pet Chaos Amoeba to gamma rays will not make it bigger or more intelligent.

But if successfull report it to 'Men in Black' The website if it turns hostile.

Maybe a extraterrestial life form just playing on your hospitality.

Since they are mostly calcareous exoskeleton I suspect they would taste like a piece of crab shell.

Most funguses are a bit like that, come to think of it. Word of the day: hypha.

__________________
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.