Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Extreme Life

Extreme Life Thrives Where the Livin' Ain't Easy | Wired Science | Wired.com









Ferroplasma acidophilum can grow in a pH of zero — conditions that make sulfuric acid look like mineral water. Found in the toxic outflow of a California gold mine, it uses iron as the central structural element of nearly all its proteins.

Image: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (left), NASA (right)