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Smart Alyk

@smartalyk.bsky.social

In my Archaea Era 🦠 New artist painting a new species daily. Watch the art evolve as I paint earth's complete evolutionary history over 40 years instagram.com/smart.alyk

730 Followers  |  898 Following  |  939 Posts  |  Joined: 20.06.2025
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Posts by Smart Alyk (@smartalyk.bsky.social)

It was isolated from acidic hot springs in Japan and thrives at high temperatures and low pH

09.03.2026 07:13 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 277
SPECIES 277- Sulfodiicoccus acidiphilus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatic, QoR & HWC watercolor, Sakura pen, Tombow pencil

Sulfodiicoccus acidiphilus is a coccus shaped, non-motile archaeon.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

09.03.2026 07:12 — 👍 27    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

Saccharolobus solfataricus is an extreme thermoacidophilic archaeon. It's widely used in laboratory studies due to its ability to grow on various carbon sources and its role in understanding thermoacidophilic adaptations

08.03.2026 07:25 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 276
SPECIES 276 - Saccharolobus solfataricus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. DS , QoR & HWC watercolor, Sakura pen

NOTES: I have 3 colors that I want to keep using over and over.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

08.03.2026 07:24 — 👍 19    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep an eye on it.

07.03.2026 07:22 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

It utilizes sulfur and iron oxidation for energy and is used in industrial bioleaching to extract copper from ore.

07.03.2026 07:21 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 275
SPECIES 275 - Sulfuracidifex metallicus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek, HWC & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen

S. metallicus is an archaeon discovered in Icelandic solfataric fields.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

07.03.2026 07:20 — 👍 29    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

Went from Cave Johnson to Space Johnson

06.03.2026 11:06 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Staphylothermus marinus is not a pizza, but an archaeon that thrives in marine hydrothermal vents at temperatures of 85–92°C. It requires elemental sulfur for growth.

06.03.2026 07:14 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 274
SPECIES 274 - Staphylothermus marinus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen, Tombow pencil

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

06.03.2026 07:14 — 👍 28    🔁 5    💬 2    📌 0

Stetteria hydrogenophila is a hyperthermophilic, and strictly anaerobic archaeon isolated from marine hydrothermal sediments in Paleohori Bay, Greece.

05.03.2026 07:28 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 273
SPECIES 273 - Stetteria hydrogenophila
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek, HWC & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen

NOTES: I'm approaching the end of Archaea, I'll move onto the next stage on day 300. 🦠_🦠

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

05.03.2026 07:27 — 👍 21    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

Originally isolated in 1996 from a solfataric vent at Kodakarajima island "Small treasure island" in Kyūshū, Japan. It was also the first aerobic archaeon to have its complete genome sequenced.

04.03.2026 07:33 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 272
SPECIES 272 - Aeropyrum pernix
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek & HWC watercolor, Sakura pen

Aeropyrum pernix is a strictly aerobic, hyperthermophilic archaeon.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

04.03.2026 07:33 — 👍 23    🔁 4    💬 1    📌 0

I. aggregans is a hyperthermophilic, anaerobic archaeon found in New Zealand hot springs. Its name translates to "Aggregating fire balls" because the species has a roughly spherical shape and lives in environments of extreme heat

03.03.2026 07:31 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 271
SPECIES 271 - Ignisphaera aggregans
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek, DS & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen

NOTES: Continuing my fight to conquer painting ripples and ridges. 🗡️🦐

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

03.03.2026 07:31 — 👍 34    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
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DAY 270
SPECIES 270 - Thermogladius calderae
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek, HWC & QoR watercolor, Tombow pencil

T. calderae is an archaeon species that requires an oxygen free environment. It was isolated from a hot spring in Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka Russia

#sciart #archaea #art

02.03.2026 07:10 — 👍 24    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Yeah it does look like a sliced fruit doesn't it! 😆

01.03.2026 21:32 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 269
SPECIES 269 - Pyrodictium delaneyi
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek watercolor, Sakura pen, Tombow pencil

Pyrodictium delaneyi is a heat loving archaeon isolated from a deep sea black smoker chimney vent at a depth of 2200m

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

01.03.2026 07:26 — 👍 27    🔁 3    💬 2    📌 0

Absolutely! Feel free to ask anytime, and I'll try my best to answer.

28.02.2026 13:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Hyperthermophilic just means it lives in extremely hot environments like hydrothermal vents and hot springs. This species is an archaeon, which look like bacteria, but are a very different and distinct.

28.02.2026 12:31 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

You bet! It's Latin name Hyperthermus butylicus translates to heat loving organism that produces butanol, a type of alcohol that's a byproduct of its metabolism.

28.02.2026 12:30 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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DAY 268
SPECIES 268 - Hyperthermus butylicus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek & HWC watercolor, Tombow pencil

H. butylicus is an hyperthermophilic archaeon found on the sea floor near the coast of the island São Miguel, Azores, Portugal.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #art #paint

28.02.2026 07:14 — 👍 22    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 0

P. japonicus is a hyperthermophilic archaeon isolated from a deep sea hydrothermal vent in the Okinawa Trough, Japan

27.02.2026 07:14 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 267
SPECIES 267 - Pyrofollis japonicus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen

NOTES: Didn't have a plan with this one, so I kept layering until I was happy.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

27.02.2026 07:14 — 👍 27    🔁 4    💬 1    📌 0

Love this!

26.02.2026 08:40 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 266
SPECIES 266 - Caldisphaera lagunensis
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek, HWC & QoR watercolor

C. lagunensis is a thermoacidophilic, anaerobic archaeon isolated from acidic hot springs at Mt. Maquiling in the Philippines

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

26.02.2026 07:25 — 👍 27    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

It's very bird!

26.02.2026 06:02 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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DAY 265
SPECIES 265 - Acidilobus saccharovorans
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper, Chromatek & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen

A. Saccharovorans is an archaeon isolated from acidic hot springs in Kamchatka Russia. It's coccoid shaped with a bundle of archaella for mobility

#sciart #watercolor #art

25.02.2026 07:25 — 👍 26    🔁 6    💬 1    📌 0
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DAY 264
SPECIES 264 - Infirmifilum uzonense
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek & HWC watercolor. Sakura pen

I. uzonense is a hyperthermophilic, anaerobic, and organoheterotrophic archaeon. It was isolated from gray-white mud pits in Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka

#sciart #archaea #art #paint

24.02.2026 07:20 — 👍 20    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0