Wednesday, February 22, 2006

A couple good peripheral exobiological stories courtesy of The Anomalist:

Scientist searches for new lifeforms

For years scientists have been excited by the exotic creatures that live in extreme heat, pressure and toxic gas at hot vents, formed at volcanic cracks deep in the ocean.

Roy wants to see if a similarly bizarre menagerie exists near so-called cold vents, where gas hydrate, formed by shifting tectonic plates, seeps through sediment and freezes at the bottom of the ocean.


Ice worms: They're real, and they're hot

Thriving in conditions that would turn most living things to Popsicles, these inch-long earthworm cousins inhabit glaciers and snowfields in the coastal ranges of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. They move through seemingly solid ice with ease and are at their liveliest near the freezing point of water. Warm them up slightly and they dissolve into goo.

Their life cycle remains a mystery.

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