A recent article by ABCNEWS science reporter Lee Dye mentions microbial life can be found in very inhospitable places. In 1986 a cave explorer, Jim Pisarowicz, found some very unusual life forms in a cave in Mexico called the Cueva de Villa Luz ("The Cave of the Lighted House").
In one portion of the cave he could smell rotten eggs — a sign of a lot of hydrogen sulfide gas in the air. He also noticed what he called snot-tites hanging from the ceiling. These gooey "snot-tites" were really made up of many different species of bacteria. These "snot-tites" also dripped a lot of fluid down from the ceiling. This fluid got on his shirt and by the time he had left the cave his shirt was starting to dissolve off his back. He found out that that fluid was sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is used in car batteries and it very toxic.
How on earth could those bacteria be living in that sulfuric acid? In a previous Suite 101 article, I discussed extremophiles. These are microorganisms that live in very nasty places in our world (e.g., the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park). Those bacteria in the Cueva de Villa Luz are examples of very extreme extremophiles. Exactly how these bacteria survive in these places is being investigated and could lead to some very interesting discoveries.
For more information on these extremophiles go to Westminister College's news release.
For more information on extremophiles, go to Brock's Life at High Temperatures and Life in Extreme Environments by the Astrobiology Web.
Take Care and Think Microbiologically!
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