Deep-ocean-dwelling microbes may hold keys to improved medical diagnostics and new drugs for fighting diseases. But we must search Earth’s most extreme habitats to find them.
hydrothermal systems
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Fresh View of Microbial Life in Yellowstone’s Hot Springs
Research on the habitat ranges of microorganisms in Yellowstone’s hot springs reveals an overlap between cyanobacteria and algae.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Exploration and Evaluation of Deep-Sea Mining Sites
Two studies chart new territory for the fledgling deep-sea mining industry through advances in the identification and analysis of seafloor hydrothermal mounds.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble: Ocean Vents Spew Rubble
Hydrothermal vents in the ocean emit 6000-year-old carbon. The likely source? Ocean crust.
Posted inNews
A New Explanation for Organics on a Mars Rock That Fell to Earth
Organic molecules on a Martian meteorite have fueled nearly 30 years of scientific debate. New evidence suggests they were formed by Martian processes, offering more support for a once habitable environment on the Red Planet.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Hydrothermal Microbes Can Be Green Energy Producers
In ultramafic, reducing environments, forming microbial proteins can actually release energy.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Faults in Oceanic Crust Contribute to Slow Seismic Waves
New high-sampling rate measurements of fluid pressures in oceanic crust reveal unresolved fractures and pathways for fluid flow.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Mechanisms of Hydrothermal Ocean Plate Cooling Revealed
A combination of waveform tomography and hydrothermal modelling allows characterizing the mechanisms and reach of fluid flux and ocean plate cooling near mid-ocean ridges with unprecedented detail.