Hydrogen-producing hydrothermal systems in the deep ocean are rare but critical to understanding Earth’s internal processes and the conditions that may have fostered life’s origins.
Ancient Antarctic microbial mats harbour viable bacteria that have been exposed to extreme cold and arid conditions for hundreds of years.
Beneath the deep sea at nearly 10,000 meters, a Chinese-led team has discovered vibrant communities of marine creatures that survive without sunlight, relying instead on chemical reactions for energy.
Editor’s note: When we start to mount Astrobiology missions to explore ocean worlds we’ll need ways for our robotic submersibles to observe and interat with whatever life forms they may […]
Viruses in the cold waters of the Arctic are strongly seasonal and are also detected in the Antarctic.
A world-first study led by Museums Victoria Research Institute has revealed that beneath the cold, dark, pressurised world of the deep sea, marine life is far more globally connected than […]
Microorganisms are essential players in Earth’s ecosystems, demonstrating remarkable adaptability to harsh conditions including arctic ice caps, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and high-pressure oceanic zones.
While popular culture commonly depicts extraterrestrial life as little green men with large, oval-shaped heads, it’s most likely that if there is life beyond our planet and within our solar […]
Editor’s note: one day we will begin a detailed exploration of ocean worlds other than our own. Hopefully they will be habitable – and inhabited. Given that we still find […]
A new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) imaged a previously unexplored portion of the seafloor in ultra-deep waters near the Mariana Trench. Operationalizing this technology for the first time was part […]
