海底現超級細菌 正吞噬泰坦尼克殘骸

A newly discovered species of rust-eating bacteria is eating the wreck of the Titanic, researchers say. The Micro-organisms, which have never been seen before, are helping decompose the famous ship at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, say the team. They isolated the micro-organisms from a 'rusticle' collected from the ship - lying 3.8km below the ocean surface- and have named their find Halomonas titanicae。

某研究組織宣稱，聞名世界的泰坦尼克號在深海中的殘骸遭到海底超級細菌的侵蝕，殘骸恐N年後徹底消失。據悉，這種神祕的超級細菌(微生物)還是第一次被人類發現，雖然它的“真實身份”還需要研究人員去揭曉，然而這種微生物每天在分解和侵蝕在大西洋3.8公里深處的泰坦尼克號殘骸的“舉動”很是讓人痛心。研究者給超級細菌起了一個學名“鹽單胞菌屬泰坦尼克號殺手”(H. titanicae )。

The researchers from Dalhousie University, Canada and the University of Sevilla, Spain, say the bacterium could pose a new microbial threat to the exterior of ships and underwater metal structures such as oil rigs. The researchers, who published their findings in the latest issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, also tested the rusting ability of the bacteria。

來自加拿大以及西班牙大學的研究者稱，這種超級細菌嚴重腐蝕沉船殘骸的表面，同時也對鑽油設備產生巨大威脅。科學家的這一重大發現已經在《國際微生物期刊》上發表，探索這一超級細菌的腐蝕能力已經正式列爲研究課題。

'This could be useful in the disposal of old naval and merchant ships and oil rigs that have been cleaned of toxins and oil-based products and then sunk in the deep ocean.' They believe that the findings have opened up further areas of research that could be applied elsewhere. 'Finding answers to these questions will not only better our understanding of our oceans, but may also equip us to devise coatings that can prevent similar deterioration to our metal structures.'

研究者說，對於超級細菌的研究可以大大提高“海底清污”的能力，以及更好的維護行駛船隻，特別是航齡時間較長的大型輪船的基本運行。科學家相信，這項研究具有很強的實用性，研究結果可算是“萬衆期待”。因爲自從英國石油公司泄漏危機事件以來，媒體對“如何治理漏油”事宜十分敏感的緣故。對此，研究者說：“研究超級細菌對海底清污工作的潛在作用可以顯著提高人類對海洋的認識，同時也可以相應加強海中金屬用品抵禦腐蝕的能力。”