ROCKVARNISH

The following is a brief introduction to the composition of desert rock varnish and its potential use as biogenic machinery and natural circuitry. This brief particularly addresses the anomalous components found in samples from two locations in Arizona. It is important to note that funding for the study of rock varnish has recently increased substantially. This is best illustrated by the many government research grants and private R&D projects that currently focus on varnish testing and research. I believe the data and information below will clearly illustrate the fact that varnish of a particular composition exhibit properties potentially valuable to science, while the mechanics and chemistry behind these properties is not fully understood. This is a logical explanation for the recent interest and activity by organizations such as NASA. It may be that we are just now in the process of comprehending these interesting properties and potenials, as considerable scientific effort and resources have been allocated for the purpose of reverse engineering this biogenic vessel.

The first important characteristic that one should note when examining Rock Varnish is that it does not form as a product of weathering. In fact, unlike weathering its formation is actually due to a process of selective absorption of certain materials from its surrounding environment. The source and mechanics of this incorporation mechanism is not fully understood. Scientists still don't understand the means by which a varnish assimilates certain materials and ejects others. However, recent studies have made progress in identifying its dominate chemical elements, which include Si, O, and Al. Also present in lesser quantities are Fe, Mn, C, Ca, Na, K, N, P, Ti, Mg, S, Ba, and Cl, which together with Si, O, and Al, account for about 95 % of the varnish composition. These chemicals are deposited in micro thin layers on the rocks surface, due in part to cooperation from the organic components that make up the remaining 5% of varnish composition
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Recent studies have confirmed that there is a measurable biogenic component to rock varnish and these organic ingredients play a crucial role in varnish development. The bacteria presence in varnish is thought to produce a cellular secretion crucial to the absorption process which incorporates deterial grains and complex metals from the environment. When exposed to extreme conditions, this silica-like gel is thought to form on the upper surface of the varnish where it hardens in thin layers. Even in desert conditions, where temperatures reach over 115ºF and frequently reach 160ºF on the dark varnish surfaces, biofilm and its components can be preserved or incorporated into varnish coats. Biofilms are almost ubiquitous when they interact with a substrate in an environment where water is present. Since water is found in even the most extreme of conditions, it would not be a stretch to think of desert varnish as a subaerial biofilm.

To date, there seems to be only one successful culturing of bacteria from rock varnish. The sample cultured was Bacillus Subtilis and it was grown from a sample taken from Arizona. However, researchers have been successful in isolating 79 strains of bacteria from varnish coatings Most of the bacterial samples isolated desert varnish from the Sonoran and Mojave are gram-positive bacteria capable of manganese oxidation. Manganese is a transition metal with nine valence states (most on the periodic table) and an interesting ability to cooperate with some bacteria as they oxidize a host. The Mn is able to accept extra electrons from the bacteria transforming it into the variant Mn4, which is insoluble.......it can even shed the electron via other chemical reactions. In this sense, the manganese acts almost like a battery by holding and releasing electrons as it is processed by the bacteria.
When bacteria in desert varnishes expire, the amino acids present in the cell walls become part of the varnish coating. As a result, biogenic metallic pathways are created and weaved throughout the rock varnish. . Amino acid proteins are also found in the hydrolyzates of desert varnish. They include D-alanine, D-valine, and D glutamic acid. . Two other non-protein amino acids that were also found are ß-alanine, D-aspartic acid and Amino Butyric Acid (ABA). The finding of the D-enantiomers of glutamic acid and alanine suggests that peptidoglycan is a component of desert varnish. Peptidoglycans are complex polysaccharides found in bacterial cell walls. They contain linear polymers of two alternating sugars, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid which are cross-linked with the short peptides. These peptides are composed of some common amino acids, as well as some unusual ones, such as D-glutamic acid, diaminopimelic acid and D-alanine. The peptide cross-links in the peptidoglycans may protect the sugars from decomposition. These metallic pathways are quite stable as a result of this cross-linking,. This makes for an interesting comparison to modern day circuit boards, as both are a layered silicon substrate with embedded metallic pathways.

All the bacteria identified to date, have been of the type Gram-positive except for two locations in Arizona, in which Gram-negative pedomicrobium has been identified. Interestingly, this particular bacteria was the same type found in the Martian Meteor and there is speculation that it originally may not even have been a terrestrial organism. Gram-negative type bacteria have developed at least five different secretion systems (types I through V) to deliver molecules to the environment. The type II secretion machinery in pseudomonads - the xcp-system as it is called - consists of at least 12 proteins of which all but one (ABA) are integral membrane proteins. While the components of this biogenic mechanism have been identified, little is known about their interactions, energy consumption or method of communication.

Rock Varnish may be one of the universe's first methods for transporting life-forms throughout space and may even be responsible for seeding life on this planet. It would seem that high-tech industry has recognized the potential for this biogenic technology. The latest nano-materials are being designed to mimic natural phospholipid biofilms. ABA triblock copolymers are synthesized to self-assemble into unilamellar vesicles. The vesicles can function as enzyme carriers used for signal-enhancement. The engineered biofilm can protect the material it covers by acting as a radiation shield, while also isolating it from harsh environmental conditions. The commercial applications for a composite that has these properties is substantial. In addition to applications such as shielding electronics and people, this material would have valuable scientific uses in research, detection and experimentation. The NASA article below illustrates the interest and potentials of such a concept.

RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGHS IN RADIATION PROTECTION
An evaluation of microorganism contamination safeguards for an upcoming Mars mission has resulted in the discovery of a novel compound that may lead to breakthrough methods for protecting astronauts and sensitive electronic equipment from space radiation's harmful effects. Montana Biotech Corporation of Belgrade, Montana, has just signed a Technology Cooperation Agreement with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, for research on radiation shielding compounds. The MSU TechLink Center, a technology transfer and commercialization partnership between NASA and Montana State University (MSU) located in Bozeman, Montana, helped broker the agreement. The agreement stems from a recently completed project between Montana Biotech and Johnson Space Center to improve methodologies for recognizing and analyzing microorganisms in rock samples acquired during NASA space missions. MSU Associate Professor Dr. David Singel assisted Montana Biotech in testing the compound's radiation protection effects. The new agreement calls for measuring this new compound's ability to shield gamma radiation, the relative effectiveness of different formulations of the compound and its ability to shield other types of radiation, including x-rays and proton and electron radiation. Preliminary results indicate that the compound can shield other organisms, fiber optics and microcircuits from radiation's harmful effects. The implications of this research extend into the areas of satellite communications, bioremediation and nuclear medicine.
Montana Biotech specializes in analyzing and isolating unique compounds from microorganisms found living in extreme environments, such as boiling, acidic or radioactive water, and developing commercial products from these compounds. Examples of products include environmentally friendly adhesives, anti-oxidants and anti-fungals for the biomedical market and environmental remediation agents.

While it may be easy to comprehend Varnish as a method of spreading life throughout space or shielding things from harmful radiation, the act of imagining the potential applications in regards to natural circuitry is conceptually more elusive. This is understandable, as the circuitboard and varnish coating have many basic physical similarities, the fact that varnish lacks a software component(instructions), is without a power supply and resides in a harsh environment would seem to prevent one from making any functional comparison.   After all, even a circuitboard left to rest powerless and without software on the desert floor possesses no functionality
This may not be the case for Rock Varnish due to the existence of the added variable of a biological organism and its subsequent processes.  For example, some of these oxidizing bacteria are literally consuming both their host as well as certain elements that may collect upon the host as it interacts with the environment.  There is even the potential for energy storage because of the interesting ability of Maganese to hold an electron for certain bacteria during the oxidation process. This occurs on the molecular level as a transform from Mn2 to the Mn4 variant.. Other potential energy sources may include the utilization of certain natural radiation or possibly even an engineered scenario of direct energy transmission via microwave transmission.
This combination of interesting material properties and biological processes exists only as mechanical potential without instructions or software of some sort.  Engineering a means for the introduction of some method of programming into this mix may seem unlikely or beyond the realm of our current technology. However, recent breakthroughs in bio-engineering have not only made this idea plausible, but have in fact have already succeeded in the insertion of instructions into bacteria via genetic manipulation. Scientists have programmed bacteria to assemble into different shapes and colors.
(See the link to this article below the bacteria photo on the left)

Additionally, when you examine carbon nanotube composition, I think you will find that they are mimicking or outright examples of ABA triblock or cross-linked copolymers designed to self-assemble as vectors (unilamellar vesicles).The latsest advancements in computer memory has properties/components very similar to what we find in Rock Varnish. FRAM is ferroelectric memory created with or mimicking B-Alanine Amino Acid Crystals.
As our current technological successes continue in regards to the engineering of nature, an interesting vision of future nanomachines and other biological designs begins to take shape. It is quite possible that future technological machinery may be almost indiscernible from the natural landscape. The future potenial applications and utility regading the above concepts would make sense aesthetically, ecologically, mechanically and even exopolitically. These ideas represent a vision of future technology that is in contrast with current expectations and should merit proper consideration by those who are actively searching for signs of intelligence elsewhere in the cosmos. The addition of this possibility into the data base of potential signs of life or artificiality creates a rather confusing situation. Bearing in mind a goal of differentiating the artificial from the natural, by recognizing such a possibility, we are in a sense saying that natural may in some cases be a subset of artificial, at least in situations where data is exclusively image-based(visual). In addition, such a notion may merrit additional research of terrestriial locations with a history of unexplained sightings or areas that produce anomalous readings or apparent conservation violations when studied. It is interesting to imagine that the technology of our near future or the current technology of a neighboring species may be packaged as the rock outcropping behind your home or a fungal colony miles beneath your feet.