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X-treme Microbes


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They’re called extremophiles and they live in hellish places once thought uninhabitable. Now, they’re revealing their secrets to science …

RADIATION EATERS
Two miles deep in solid rock, researchers discovered super-exotic bacteria that get their food from radioactivity.

AMAZING SURVIVORS
They evolved to thrive in hostile environments, including bone-dry deserts, boiling acid, horrendous heat and incredible cold.

Image: X-treme Microbes montage Illustration
Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation