August 18th, 2003del.icio.us Digg Reddit StumbleUpon
These Microbes Can Take the Heat
Written by Fraser Cain
Microbes taken from a deep sea vent at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean can survive in an environment that would kill anything else on Earth - they live, and thrive, in water that is 130 degrees Celsius. The scientists who discovered the microbes, called Strain 121, put the creature in an autoclave, which is designed to kill all bacteria; not only did it survive, but it kept on multiplying in the high heat. The discovery helps scientists develop new theories of how life could have originated on an early Earth that was much hotter than it is today.
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