Originally published February 22 2005
Extremophilic microbes that survive in the earth's harshest environments open up the possibility of life on other planets
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A broad class of microbes known as extremophiles can survive in harsh environments such as near underwater volcanic vents, inside nuclear reactors, or inside rocks, which leads scientists to believe that there may be such microbes elsewhere in the solar system. These hardy microbes can live through such incredible extremes that scientists believe similar forms of life may show up on Mars or even on other planets or moons.
They can be found thriving in some of the most hostile environments imaginable -- swimming in near-boiling water, eating rocks, lounging in sub-zero temperatures, and hanging out where radiation levels rival nuclear reactors.
Others have important applications in medical research.
But for many scientists, these hardy microbes are interesting because they suggest the potential for life on other planets.
Microbial extremophiles have recently been discovered thriving in the extremely hostile environments in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.
It is these types of conditions, particularly the high concentrations of magnesium chloride, that have scientists imagining what the environments of other planets might consist of, and whether they contain life.
"Ascertaining the nature of the subsurface on other planets is tricky, but there is growing evidence for hypersaline environments of Mars and Jupiter's moon, Europa.
Indeed, Europa is believed to have a subsurface ocean rich in magnesium salts," Terry McGenity, the lead scientist of the University of Essex group working on the Biodeep project, told LiveScience.
McGenity speculates that these microbes are methanogens because they are related to methane producing Archaea and no other methane-producing microbes were found in the basins, which are abundant with methane.
In addition to being cold, the environments that these microbes are found in are sometimes at tremendous depths -- sometimes over two miles (3.2 kilometers) below the surface.
The mineral-munching microbes living around these volcanic "chimneys," which are so deep no sunlight can reach them, give yet another view of what life could be like on another planet, where lack of sunlight would hinder organisms relying on photosynthesis as their energy producing mechanism.
While there is no evidence for life beyond Earth, information about extraterrestrial environments combined with the discoveries of life in places on our planet thought to be inhabitable keeps scientists optimistic.
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