All articles tagged with #earths subsurface
The article discusses the discovery of aeonophiles, ultra-long-lived microbes living deep beneath Earth's surface, which challenge traditional notions of lifespan and life itself, and have significant implications for understanding life's diversity, evolution, and potential existence on other planets.
A vast and diverse ecosystem exists below Earth's surface, housing billions of microorganisms that collectively contain 15 to 23 billion tonnes of carbon – hundreds of times more than the carbon mass of all humans on the surface. This subterranean Galapagos, dominated by bacteria and archaea, has genetic diversity comparable to life above ground. Scientists are still exploring this ecosystem's potential impact on surface life and marveling at the metabolisms that allow life to survive under extreme conditions.