Scientists Discover Staggering Amount of Life Deep Below Earth's Surface

D-brief
By Roni Dengler
Dec 11, 2018 10:19 PMMay 17, 2019 9:40 PM
lifeform deep earth
This unidentified nematode was found living in the Kopanang gold mine in South Africa, nearly one mile below Earth's surface. (Credit: Gaetan Borgonie/Extreme Life Isyensya, Belgium)

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The dark, high-pressure depths of Earth’s interior is an unexpected place to find life. Now, an international group of scientists report there’s 16.5 to 25 billion tons of micro-organisms beneath the planet’s surface. The team’s work is redefining what a habitable environment is.

The discoveries “force us to reimagine what the boundaries are that life can exist in,” said Karen Lloyd, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

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