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Hot Topic
Origins
Extreme Life
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Microbe Mountain High
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
03/06/09 |
| Scientists have shown how gases from within the Earth support microbes at 19,850 feet high. They are the highest-known microbial communities on Earth, and highlight the ways in which life is connected to physical and chemical processes on our planet. They may also help scientists understand how to search for life on Mars. |
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Sinkhole Soup
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
02/28/09 |
| Researchers are studying life in an extreme environment not typically known for extremes. The dense, salty water of sinkholes in Lake Huron supports bizarre ecosystems composed of purple cyanobacteria mats and other strange microorganisms. |
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Adapting to Vents
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
02/18/09 |
| A unique bacterium living 2,500 meters below the surface of the ocean is providing clues about how life adapts to extreme environments. Scientists have identified genetic adaptations that allow the microorganism to survive in the waters surrounding deep-sea hydrothermal vents. |
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Extreme Worm
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
02/14/09 |
| Researchers have discovered a hardy Antarctic worm that has unique methods for surviving in one of Earth's harshest environments. The worm's adaptations include drying itself out and going into suspended animation when water is low, and the ability to release antifreeze when temperatures drop. |
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Life Above and Below
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
02/09/09 |
| At the most recent NASA Astrobiology Science Conference, a panel of scientists discussed different types of planets where we might find alien life. In the second part of this series, T.C. Onstott digs beneath the surface to look for life, and Peter Ward weighs the odds of finding complex life in space and time. |
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Roping Extreme Life
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
01/25/09 |
| Researchers have discovered filamentous ropes of microorganisms growing in the cold waters of an Italian cave - 1,600 feet below the Earth's surface. The sulfur caves provide a truly unique environment in which previously unidentified microbes can thrive. |
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Underwater Clues to Alien Life
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
01/18/09 |
| Scientists studying life around "black smokers" deep below the Pacific Ocean have discovered unique organisms that can survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth. The habitat may also provide information about how life could survive on other locations in the solar system. |
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Examining a SLIce of the Arctic
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
01/05/09 |
| If aliens sent a probe to Earth in search of life, their best target would be the tropics, where life is dense. But on other nearby worlds, tropics are hard to come by. Most likely, if we find life elsewhere in our solar system, we'll find it in ice. |
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Astrobiology Top 10: Through a Glass Darkly
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
12/26/08 |
| Astrobiology Magazine is looking back over 2008, highlighting the top 10 astrobiology stories of the year. At number 8 is the possibility that ancient microbes may have lived in volcanic rock, feeding off of elements contained within their glassy home. (This story originally was published in Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition on August 18, 2008). |
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Astrobiology Top 10: Life is Lonely at the Center of the Earth
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| Topic: Extreme Life |
12/25/08 |
| Astrobiology Magazine is looking back over 2008, highlighting the top 10 astrobiology stories of the year. At number 9 is the story of Desulforudis audaxviator, a bacterium that lives in total darkness. Scientists now have discovered it also lives in complete isolation. Almost all organisms on Earth live in interdependent communities, but the lonely D. audaxviator proves it's possible for life to go solo. (This story originally was published on October 11, 2008). |
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