In terms of "really bad ideas," reviving a deadly giant virus that's been dead for 30,000 years is right up there with genocide, war, and feeding your Gremlin after midnight. But that's exactly what a few scientists in Siberia have done (no, seriously: WHAT is going on over there in Russia?), and the worst part? This giant virus is not only still infectious, it's a harbinger of things to come.

According to Scientific American (via Haaretz.com), Pithovirus sibericum has been uncovered in Siberian ice that has melted. And while this virus only infects amoebas (which, you know, end up in our water and, in turn, infect us), there are still plenty of other viruses that are in this Siberian ice that is slowly, but surely, dethawing (thanks to that pesky global warming that some Right Wingers try so desperately to prove TOTALLY DOES NOT EXIST...) that are infectious to humans, and the technology we have today isn't exactly prepared to combat these viruses should they become an epidemic.

Of course, according to the same site, there are still some scientists who think we don't have anything to worry about...because we breathe in thousands of viruses every day, so what's an ancient deadly virus amongst friends and enemies? Curtis Suttle, a virologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, says that he's more concerned about the practicality of global warming, not the potential viruses that can -- and will -- be unleashed. "I would be much more concerned about the hundreds of millions of people who will be displaced by rising sea levels," he said.

Indeed, MSN affirms that this virus is just the latest in ancient viruses that have been isolated -- and revived -- from a long time ago. As to whether we should worry about the effects of it...MSN says that we should take a "wait and see" approach.