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A worm that survived 46,000 years in permafrost wows scientists

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A worm that survived 46,000 years in permafrost wows scientists


Scientists have discovered a worm that managed to stretch its short life expectancy — by tens of thousands of years.

A tiny roundworm was revived after it was frozen in Siberian permafrost 46,000 years ago, when Neanderthals still walked the Earth.

The worm, a previously unknown species of nematode, survived after entering a dormant state known as cryptobiosis, during which the animal doesn’t eat and lacks a metabolism. The finding was detailed in a recent study published in the journal PLOS Genetics.

The most stunning part of the discovery was the length of time the worm had endured cryptobiosis, said Philipp Schiffer, one of the study’s authors and a group leader at the Institute of Zoology at the University of Cologne in Germany.

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Nematodes are among the planet’s most ubiquitous life forms. Scientists had known that some could survive long periods of suspended animation in subzero environments. One Antarctic species spent over 25 years in frozen moss before resuscitation, the previous longest record of cryptobiosis recorded for a nematode.

/ Vamshidhar Gade and Anastasia Shatilovich

/

Vamshidhar Gade and Anastasia Shatilovich

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A collage made by two of the study’s authors shows the permafrost sample where the nematode survived for 46,000 years, and a close-up of the microscopic nematode itself.

“Nobody had thought that this process could be for millennia, for 40,000 years — or even longer,” Schiffer said. “It’s just amazing that life can start again after such a long time, in the stage between life and death.”

Scientists used radiocarbon dating to determine that the soil from the permafrost sample was 46,000 years old.

Some nematodes are also known to survive parched climates, like in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the driest nonpolar desert on Earth. One species was revived after spending nearly 40 years desiccated in a dry herbarium.

“Everything seems to be possible for these animals and that’s what makes them so fascinating,” the scientist said.

Schiffer says his worm lab in Cologne was able to analyze and identify the novel worm, which researchers named Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, using genome sequencing.

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The nematode was found about 130 feet deep within the permafrost inside a burrow once home to Arctic gophers. After the chunk of frozen sediment was taken to the lab to thaw, the resurrected nematode crawled out and started making babies. The nematode, a female-only species, reproduces asexually, after about eight to 12 days.

The original worm, found five years ago, has died. Scientists are using its descendants to continue their research on the species, which will primarily involve investigating the genetic machinery behind these organisms to learn how these worms evolve to adapt in extreme environments.

That work could reveal how other animals might harbor the genetic superpowers to adapt to extreme environments today, as climate change drives more frequent heat waves and uninhabitable environments, Schiffer says.

“You might learn a lot about how and what’s happening right now on Earth, and maybe even inform protection of endangered species,” he said.

One challenge in researching the DNA sequences of this particular species, he adds, is how quickly the nematode evolves during its short life. The lifespan of Panagrolaimus kolymaensis is just one to two months.

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Unless, of course, it happens to get frozen in time.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.





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How to watch South Carolina vs Iowa State women’s basketball: Time, channel, live streams

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How to watch South Carolina vs Iowa State women’s basketball: Time, channel, live streams


The 4th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team next ships off to the Sunshine State for a matchup with No. 15 Iowa State at the Fort Myers Tip-off. The game is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX and streaming on-demand.

  • How to watch: Live streams of the South Carolina vs. Iowa State game are available with offers from FuboTV (free trial), SlingTV (low intro rate) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
  • For a limited time, FuboTV is offering $30 off the first month after the free trial period. With the $30 offer, plans start at $49.99.

#4 South Carolina Gamecocks (5-1) vs. #15 Iowa State Cyclones (5-1)

NCAA women’s basketball matchup at a glance

When: Thursday, Nov. 28 at 1:30 p.m. ET

Where: Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Fort Myers, Fla.

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TV channel: FOX

Live streams: FuboTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate) | DirecTV Stream (free trial)

Both South Carolina and Iowa State lost their first games of the 2024-’25 season within the past eight days, with the Gamecocks falling on the road to No. 5 UCLA (77-62) on Sunday and the Cyclones to Northern Iowa (87-75) last Wednesday in Cedar Falls. South Carolina is now 5-1 in its defense of the 2024 NCAA women’s championship with a top-10 win over NC State highlighting the team’s early-season résumé. The Gamecocks will be Iowa State’s first ranked opponent after falling to No. 2 seed Stanford in overtime (87-81) in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Know your live streaming options

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  • FuboTV (free trial)excellent viewer experience with huge library of live sports content; free trial lengths vary; monthly rate after free trial starts at $59.99 after current $20 discount offer.
  • SlingTV (low intro rate) discounted first month is best if you’ve run out of free trials or you’re in the market for 1+ month of TV
  • DirecTV Stream (free trial) not the same level of viewer experience as FuboTV, but the standard 7-day free trial is still the longest in streaming.

South Carolina and Iowa State are set for a 1:30 p.m. ET start on FOX. Live streams are available from FuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and SlingTV (low intro rate).



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South Carolina high school football scores: Live updates, live streams (11/8/2024)

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South Carolina high school football scores: Live updates, live streams (11/8/2024)


The 2024 South Carolina high school football season is in high gear and SBLive Sports is the place to follow of the live scoring updates and finals.

Follow the action get the most to date scores by tracking the SBLive South Carolina High School Football Scoreboard. We will have in-game score updates and all of the final scores from every corner of the state. You can also search for full schedules and complete scores from all of your very favorite teams.

Here’s a guide to following all of the South Carolina high school football this week.

STATEWIDE SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD

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CLASS 5A SCORES | CLASS 4A SCORES

CLASS 3A SCORES | CLASS 2A SCORES

CLASS 1A SCORES

SCISA CLASS AAAA | SCISA CLASS AAA

SCISA CLASS AA | SCISA A

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2024 SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL SCHEDULES: FIND YOUR TEAM

Can’t make it to your favorite team’s game but still want to watch them live? You can watch dozens of South Carolina high school football games live on the NFHS Network:

WATCH LIVE ON NFHS NETWORK

We also invite you to visit the brand new South Carolina homepage on High School on SI, powered by SBLive Sports, for the latest news, highlights, analysis, scores, photos and information on South Carolina high school sports. Follow our live game coverage and read our feature stories, breaking news, the latest recruiting news, rankings and much more.

Follow SBLive South Carolina throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

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To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App

— Mitch Stephens | mitch@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi



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ESPN's College Football Playoff Predictor has updated again. Here's where South Carolina stands

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ESPN's College Football Playoff Predictor has updated again. Here's where South Carolina stands


ESPN.com’s College Football Playoff predictor isn’t perfect because it applies analytics to a situation that ultimately will be decided by a committee of humans. But it does provide a nice guide and discussion piece about which teams have the best chance to make this year’s College Football Playoff.

Because of that human element, the predictor has been updating twice each week, once on Sunday to account for Saturday’s games and again after the latest CFP rankings are released.

[More for subscribers: What latest rankings mean for South Carolina’s College Football Playoff chances]

While the Gamecocks won their game on Saturday and got a lot of help from the teams around them last week, the logjam of SEC teams ahead of them in Tuesday’s rankings is still limiting their upside at this time.

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With the committee putting South Carolina behind fellow three-loss SEC teams Alabama and Ole Miss, the predictor currently gives South Carolina a 20 percent chance of making the 12-team field, which is three percentage points lower than its chances in Sunday’s update.

The Gamecocks do, of course, have one more huge opportunity to pad their resume when they travel to Clemson this weekend to renew the annual rivalry in what may be the biggest game in the matchup’s history.

Beat the Tigers, who are currently No. 12 in the CFP Top 25, and South Carolina’s chances of making the playoff jump to 46 percent, according to the predictor.

While that’s just under a coin flip, it’s also 12 percentage points lower than it was in Sunday’s update.

South Carolina is still very much in the hunt but is going to need to win and play very well against Clemson and get more help around it.

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[GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

As a reminder, the CFP committee’s top 12 teams won’t correlate exactly with the 12-team field.

The CFP will consist of the top five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked at-large schools. The top four conference champions will receive the top four seeds and a first-round bye. The fifth conference champion will be seeded by its CFP ranking. If that ranking is outside of the top 12 it will be seeded 12th as the final team in the field.

The teams seeded 5 through 12 will fight it out in the first round with the winners advancing to the quarterfinal round to face the top four seeds.

The Gamecocks and Tigers are set for a noon showdown Saturday in Clemson.

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ESPN Analytics uses FPI to simulate the entire college football season 200,000 times. A committee model is applied to mimic College Football Playoff selections and seeding in order to generate a 12-team bracket for each simulation. The most likely CFP teams are provided for user selections. After user inputs, a likely bracket is generated and randomly simulated using FPI.



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