h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.h2g2.com/A456671

This is the oldest living thing on this planet - well worth a glance if you're feeling old yourself with the onset of the new year...it will put that age in context

This is just so so fascinating. I have to go and find out more. Everyone should read this. It's one of those "wow" articles. Even though I would like it to be about 500 pages longer, shortness has its good points too - three little paragraphs and you're full of wonder!

I just had one little doubt. The 3rd footnote says "There are reckoned to be as many bacteria on and in the human body as there are human cells". I thought it was a hell of a lot more that that. I'm going to go away and find out. Then I'm going to come back and apologise for being wrong or I might be able to tell you something useful. Either will give me great satisfaction.

The wordy original published source can be found in "Nature" issue 407, and there's an abstract at [URL Removed by moderator]

Hello,

Short and sweet. I really like it. Especially the subheader titled "That's a Long Time". My only question is whether the date should be changed to something other than "Earlier this year" to something more specific like "In early 2000". I suppose you could determine that from the article date, but if that ever changes...

Yours,
Jake

Good point - change to "Early in the summer of 2000" made.
Thanks,
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Ok. I'm back to apologise. I can't find the info I was looking for. Don't you just hate the way they don't put indices in some books.

I did find a book that said 80 to 90 percent of the earth's biomass was made up of microorganisms. Perhaps that was what I was thinking of. It also said that thousands of different kinds of germs are native to our bodies, 500 different types live in our mouth alone and without many of them, we'd be ill. Then I found an article that said there are more bacteria living in your mouth than the number of people who have ever lived.

That explains a lot. I'll say no more.

Thanks for the link. I'll nip over and have a look at that.

Excellent Duncan!! I remember you jumping into a conversation somewhere the day the bacillus 293 article appeared in the Guardian, promising to add an entry to the Guide and I vaguely remember saying then it was undoubtedly worth inclusion. Now I've seen your definitive version, I'm even more positive about it. Get those scouts in here quick somebody.
Two minor editorial niggles. Firstly, paragraph 2 has an incomplete sentence "In fact, in since isolate 2-9-3 put itself to sleep......"
I suspect it's intended to read "...in the years since..."
Secondly, your first footnote has 2 misplaced apostrophes, both occurrences of "it's" are possessives so should read "its".
Best of luck with this one.

Mistakes noted and edited.
Thanks
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Editorial Note: This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review forum because this entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

If they have not been along already, the Scout who recommended your entry will post here soon, to let you know what happens next. Meanwhile you can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!

It has waited 400 million years to get into the guide - a few more days won't be a problem

Hello,

Sorry about that. They beat me to closing off the thread. Anyway, I am pleased to tell you what you now already know. Your entry has been accepted into the Guide's Editorial Process. After a while (but not 250 million years!) (see, I was waiting to use that joke) it will proceed through the sub-editing process and appear on the front page, when you will receive an email. Way to go!

Yours,
Jake