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Question
What are the types of diverse environments that living things occupy today?
The study of life i extreme environments is a major part of astrobiology research. Over the past few years, we have found life (mostly microbes) in places we used to think were too hostile. These extreme environments include water temperatures from 120 C (well above the boiling point) down to about -20 C (very cold). Life tolerates a wide range of salinity (as you can see when flying over the brightly colored microbes in salt ponds) and of acidity (for example, in Rio Tinto, the acid river of Spain). Many life forms live in places of eternal dark, both in the deep ocean and below the surface of the Earth. And some, like the microbe Radiodurans, even thrive when exposed high levels of ionizing radiation (such as the cooling water of nuclear reactors), radiation that would quickly kill you or me. It it is very impressive to see the way life has evolved to fill so many ecological niches. We call them "extremophiles", meaning that they love extreme conditions -- but of course these conditions seem extreme only from our perspective. The microbes that live there get along just fine.
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
August 6, 2004
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