Luo Hui: The current situation of research on fossil specimens of radioactive insects.

In the vast ocean, there is a seemingly insignificant animal.
they are small, less than a small rice, but have a proud long history of life, since the beginning of the Cambrian era, has evolved to this day.
they are large and widely distributed, and the soft mud formed by the deposition of the seafloor after death accounts for about 3% of the modern seabed area.
these little things are radioactive insects.
now, scientists have played an important role in the study of fossil specimens of radioactive insects, but also in the determination of the formation, plate movement and other problems.
the name radioworms, which are related to their unique "looks".
radioworms are single-celled protozoa that float in the ocean.
most of them have a central bone, a spherical, bell-shaped shape and other shapes, the central bone has a radiation-like extension, hence the name.
radioworms belong to protozoa gate meat-footworms.
, like other siblings in the large family, the individual of the radiation worm is made up of only one cell.
but the only cell is a complete organism with the main living function seisphons that should be an individual animal.
the various parts of the cell have been differentiated, each in charge of a certain function, forming a "organ-like."
, for example, they tend to have whiplash, cilia, or pseudo-foot as a moving organ.
protozoa individuals are very small and widely distributed, as are radioactive insects.
the body diameter of the radiation worm is generally 0.1 to 0.2 mm, some can grow to 2.5 mm.
there is also a type of radiation worm that is group-born, and many individuals are connected together, and can reach more than 15 mm overall.
the petite body of the radioworm has caused some trouble in the collection and study of its fossil specimens. Luo Hui, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in
, told China Science Daily that when collecting fossils in the wild, they can't see radioactive insects directly, even with a magnifying glass, they can only see some well-preserved radiation wormshadows in the rocks.
they need to transport rocks that may contain radioactive fossils back to the lab, have been specially treated to separate them from the stone, and then zoom in on electron microscopes to photograph them hundreds or thousands of times, using photographs for observation and research.
", of course, radiation fossil research also has its unique advantage, that they did not become extinct with the long history of evolution.
" Luo Hui said that there are more than 2,000 known fossils of radioactive insects, while there are about 6,000 species of radioactive insects.
we can use the research methods of the present and the present, according to the survival of the living radioactive insects, ecological distribution and so on, to infer the survival of ancient radioactive insects.
Luohui said that in Japan, there are radioworm experts specializing in the live cultivation of radioactive insects, or in the ocean to collect the living radioactive insects, under a microscope to observe their behavior.
" We can see in the video that most of the radioactive insects are prey.
they stick out their pseudo-foot, grab some small food, and eat it.
some radiobugs have symbiotic algae, which produce nutrients through photosynthesis and can be absorbed by radioactive insects.
these behaviors are very interesting, but also the current international radiation insect research is a hot spot.
" Luo Hui said, "In the past, we studied fossils more, but now a lot of radioworm experts turn to study the behavior of the living radiation worm."
" radiation parasite distribution: sedimentary deep-sea radiation worms are widely distributed, from the equator to the polar regions, covering almost all of the world's oceans.
, radiation worms near the equator are particularly diverse.
if you use a regular bathtub to fill the water, there can be up to 40,000 radioactive insects living there.
because its shell is silicone, radioactive insects are not easily dissolved after they die and sink to the bottom of the sea, but are rich in large quantities.
their accumulation density is staggering, and the number of individuals in the sediment that contains radioactive insects can exceed 120,000, the size of a matchbox.
these radioactive shells, which accumulate on the sea floor, form the soft mud of radioactive worms.
" statistics say the soft mud covers 3.4 percent of the Earth's seafloor.
," Luo said.
is because of the properties of radioactive insects that can deposit the seafloor, which can play a key role in the study of the crustal plate suture sutures.
"We know that several of the Earth's plates will die out during the collision, and the collision zone that formed after the extinction, we call it the suture zone."
a lot of deep-sea sediments remain in the suture belt, which contain only radioactive insects and no other fossils.
so, radiation fossils can be used as key evidence of plate motion.
," Luo Explained.
in recent years, Luo Hui has devoted his main energy to the fossils of radioactive worms in the Yalu-Zangbu River suture belt in Tibet, and is carrying out research related to this.
every summer, Luo Hui takes members of his research team to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to collect fossils.
looking for these tiny fossils on the reckless plateau is not easy, in addition to dealing with the plateau reaction, but also to face a fragmented formation.
" the formation of the suture belt is different from the usual formation, it is not continuous, because its tectonic movement is very strong, the original normal up and down structure all disrupted, so collecting fossils on the plateau, than other places in the field observation is much more difficult, in the research method will not be the same.
we need to reverse the fossils and then infer the original formation order.
," Luo said.
paleontologists often rely on a bit of luck to find fossils.
on the plateau, the luck factor is clearly heavier.
most impressive Luo Hui is that many years ago, one of his teachers found some ancient radioactive insects in Jiangzi County, for which a paper, caused a lot of attention. after the publication of the
paper, many people went to look for similar fossils, but because the local formations were too messy to find them.
some wonder if the fossil simply exists here.
to confirm this, for the next ten years, Luo Hui every year at the opportunity to come to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to look near by, the results are empty-handed back.
the subject was over, and he was almost disillusioned.
last year, Luo Hui wanted to go to see it, went to a nearby hill to look for.
at the time, several fossils looked good, and Luo Hui picked them back.
came back to see, only to find that "the crowd to find him a thousand Baidu, the man is in the light of the mountain", which is his years of hard to find the radiation worm fossils.
paleontology research is often accompanied by surprises and disappointments.
" Is also its fascinating place.
," Luo said with a laugh.
study of radioworm fossils, the study of radioactive fossils began in Europe, and has since developed rapidly in the United States, but has recently weakened slightly.
currently, Japan, the country with the largest number of radiation insects in the world, has been studied.
"Japan's strata are very special, with few other fossils, but radioactive worms can be found in most places.
," Luo said.
the life history of the radiozoc is very long, from the Cambrian period has evolved to the present, different types have developed in different eras, its bones will therefore be preserved in different rocks, the most common is silicone rock.
" At first, the researchers were unable to strip the fossils from the rocks, only to grind them into thin sheets and then to observe the flakes through a microscope.
the accuracy of this observation is certainly not high, so many of the genus that was determined at that time are now considered incorrect, basically changed.
it was only after the 1970s that researchers found a new way to process radioactive fossils and remove them from silicone rocks.
this has greatly contributed to the study of radioactive fossils.
" Luo Hui said, "Now, most of our research methods are based on this technology to improve the acquisition of radioactive insect entities."
later, researchers found radioactive worm fossils in some layers that had not been found in the past, which was crucial to solving the problems of the earth's age.
" In recent years, due to the hot research of tectonic plates, the academic circles have also paid attention to the study of radioactive insects.
", the number of researchers of radiation worms in China has also increased in recent years, with researchers from Nangu Institute, Nanhai Institute, China University of Geology (Wuhan) and Tongji University conducting research in different fields.
" in 2009, as president of the International Association of Paleontologists of Radiobugs, Luo Hui organized a meeting in Nanjing, basically invited all the domestic radiation experts to gather to exchange with international experts.
" at least in terms of the number of participants, our country is only after Japan.
Nowadays, with more and more emphasis on basic research in China, it is a good sign that more and more students are committed to studying radiobugs.
," Luo said.
the future, their study of radiobugs may surprise us more.
.