Archaea: Surviving in hostile territory
Monday, March 23, 2015 - 15:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Many strange creatures live in the deep sea, but few are odder than archaea, primitive single-celled bacteria-like microorganisms. Archaea go to great lengths -- eating methane or breathing sulfur or metal instead of oxygen -- to thrive in the most extreme environments on the planet. Now scientists have discovered something odder still: a remarkable new virus that seemingly infects methane-eating archaea living beneath the ocean's floor.