Tag Archives: extremophiles

Space Piglets

I almost fell out of my seat when I flipped the page in Cosmic Perspective and saw the crunched, grumpy looking face of the tardigrade. It had to be an artist representation, I thought, for nothing (on this planet) could really look like that. I was, obviously, completely wrong. Not only are these tiny animals … More Space Piglets Continue reading

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Tardigrades

Tardigrades are amazing extremophiles! They are minute animals that are the only organism proven to withstand the vacuum of space. Recently, thousands of them were attached to a satellite that was spent into space, and were exposed into the vacuum of space to see how they would survive. As they dried out in space, their DNA broke […] Continue reading

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What If Extremophiles Were Not First?

A recent and exciting discovery for scientists is the existence of extremophiles. Extremophiles are organisms that thrive in environments previously thought to not support life. Currently, the prevailing thought is that the first forms of life were some form of extremophile – potentially thermophiles. However, what if most extremophiles (or all of them for that […] Continue reading

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Unkillable, caterpillar-like piglets

What a cutie Tardigrades, aka Water Bears, aka Moss Piglets, are the most resilient species on Earth. They transcend the extremophile label. Many extremophiles are only able to thrive in their own extreme environment. Tardigrades can live in almost every extreme environment. They’ve been known to survive temperatures ranging from 1 kelvin above absolute zero […] Continue reading

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How did life get started on Earth?

Well unfortunately no one knows for sure. The most prehistoric life that has ever been discovered, called stromatolites in Australia, can be dated back to 3.4 billion years ago. This life however is fairly evolved; it has cell walls and DNA (the more evolved version of RNA which still transmits the software for life today). […] Continue reading

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Extremophiles

Hey everyone! Extremophiles are organisms that can survive in extreme environments (hence the name). They can survive in places with extreme pressures and temperatures, and can thrive where most other life forms on Earth would perish. Most extremophiles are microbes. The American Museum of Natural History, located in New York City, has opened up a… Continue reading

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Let’s Talk About Extremophiles

Extremophiles are organisms that can live in environments that are considered ‘extreme’ due to conditions that make ‘normal’ life basically impossible. These conditions could be extremely hot, reaching temperatures of 240 degrees Fahrenheit, or and environment with very little to no oxygen. There are many different kinds of extremophiles grouped into categories depending on the […] Continue reading

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Some pretty extreme(“ophiles”)

Image from wikipedia.com That above picture is of a water bear, one of multiple really cool extremophiles discussed in this article.  The article makes a really cool comment about how we are lucky that water bears, and the same probably holds true for other extremophiles as well, are so small.  Otherwise, it is likely that […] Continue reading

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Extremophiles

As their name suggests, extremophiles are organisms that mostly dwell at the microscopic level and thrive in harsh conditions. Extremophiles can survive where other life cannot, and because they are so robust can endure even under the most stressful conditions. After learning about extremophiles in class, I wanted to research specific extremophiles found here on… Continue reading

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Arctic Lake Extremophiles

We have been learning a lot about extremophiles and whether they would be able to survive on other worlds, specifically within out solar system. I found an article on Wired that pointed to a discovery of microbes in a brine lake located beneath 65 feet of ice in Antarctica. This extremophile had to survive in […] Continue reading

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