Effects in the Long-Run

I was just checking up on what all my group members were up to and I came across Patrick’s post about sea creatures and electronics. In order to get a better understanding of the article I went, not to Slashdot’s discussion, but rather the original source. Reading the article is a little confusing because I don’t have a strong understanding of the chemicals and processes involved. However, what I did take away from it is that scientists are using the shells of tiny ocean creatures in order to create products such as gas sensors which more efficiently detect pollution.

What I found particular interesting is that although they mention that over 100,000 species in the ocean have the characteristics appropriate for this conversion, it mentions nothing about what would happen to these species after having undergone these processes. Because the conversion requires the outer shell of the creatures, one can only assume that the creature itself will die in the process. “The Aulacoseira diatoms used in the research reported by Nature were millions of years old, obtained from samples mined and distributed as diatomaceous earth”. The benefits from these processes don’t address at all the effect of losing these 100,000+ somewhat species to science. It seems to me, at least, that nature seems to know what it’s doing until humans decide to mess with it. Unless we consider the effects of using everything in nature for solely our own (humans’) benefits, we might be in for some unpleasant surprises in the future.