The GreenplanetFM Podcast with Tim Lynch

Scientific research into the ocean and ocean floor is based on what we can exploit from the ocean. Yet, science is also unveiling the possibility as to where ‘ocean mind’ resides. Some researchers believe that bacteria in ocean sediments are connected by a network of microbial nanowires. These fine protein filaments could shuttle electrons back and forth, allowing communities of bacteria to act as one giant super-organism. In James Cameron’s movie Avatar, the inhabitants, the Na'vi people of Pandora, plug themselves into a neural network that links to all the elements of Pandora’s biosphere, from phosphorescent plants to pterodactyl-like birds. It turns out that Pandora's interconnected ecosystem may have a parallel back here on our planet: sulphur-eating bacteria that live in muddy sediments beneath the ocean floor, as a tightly coupled living mat or network. Going back 4 billion years where bacteria have been living in the ocean and creating the conditions for life to prosper on our planet – evolving the co