Welcome to Alien Safari! Explore the "life zones" below to find some of the extreme organisms on our planet.
1. Hottest
- Name: Archaea Strain 121
- Location: Hot springs at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
- Description: This microbe belongs to a class called "hyperthermophiles," which live in extremely hot or acidic water. Some species can survive temperatures over 235 degrees Fahrenheit -- hot enough to boil an egg in minutes.
What this means for life in the universe:
The discovery of organisms that thrive within a broad range of temperatures opens up new prospects for finding microbial life elsewhere in the universe.
2. Deepest Underground
Researchers study microbes deep inside a South Africa gold mine
(Photo by Louise Gubb/Princeton University)
- Name: Bacillus infernus
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Description: New species of bacteria have been discovered in caves and gold mines as deep as 2 miles underground. These species are known as thermophiles, or heat lovers, because they thrive in high-temperature environments.
What this means for life in the universe:
The study of habitable environments deep below the Earth's surface may hold important clues to finding life on other planets. Many scientists believe that if there is life on Mars it will be found underground.
3. Most Acidic
Acidophiles found in a treatment plant in Wales
- Name: Acidophiles
- Location: Lechuguilla Cave, Carlsbad, New Mexico
- Description: These hardy organisms have been found living in a number of caves under conditions of pH of 0.0 -about as acidic as battery acid!
What this means for life in the universe:
Some scientists speculate that the clouds of Venus could be a plausible habitat for microbial life. The clouds are highly acidic, but that wouldn't be a problem for acidophiles.
4. Highest Radiation Dose
D. radiodurans; this special has been found in many extreme environments,
including contaminated soil at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Nuclear Site.
- Name: D. radiodurans
- Location: Hanford nuclear waste storage site, Washington state
- Description: D. radiodurans has been humorously dubbed "Conan the Bacterium." It's the most radiation-resistant organism known. These guys can withstand 1.5 million rads (units of radiation) - a thousand times more than any other life form on Earth.
What this means for life in the universe:
D. radiodurans species beats most of the constraints for survival of life on Mars, including radiation, cold, vacuum and dormancy.
5. Living without Sunlight
Tube Worms
- Name: Hydrothermal vent communities
- Location: First discovered on the Galapagos Rift off the coast of Ecuador
- Description: In 1977, scientists first discovered entire communities of organisms flourishing miles below the surface of the ocean, around openings in the ocean floor out of which hot, mineral-rich water erupts. The openingshost a variety of strange and amazing organisms that have adapted to immense pressure, total darkness, and proximity to super-heated water that reaches 662 degrees F.
What this means for life in the universe:
There is strong evidence that a liquid ocean exists below the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. If this ocean contains hydrothermal vents as well, scientists speculate, they could be wellsprings of alien life.
6. Strangest Habitat
An ice worm closeup
- Name: Methane Ice Worms
- Location: Gulf of Mexico, 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana
- Description: In 1997, vast colonies of strange, rosy-pink worms 1-2 inches in length were found burrowing in mounds of methane-rich ice erupting from the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico.
What this means for life in the universe:
The discovery of these previously unknown life forms, living in frigid ocean depths far beyond the reach of sunlight, extend our definition of what constitutes a habitable environment. The discovery provides further evidence that life is tough in the extreme.
