Extraterrestrials in Yellowstone National Park.

in #nature7 years ago

Yellowstone National Park is very special and is home to many living organisms. One of them could help scientists better understand extraterrestrial life and how it appears.


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Founded in 1872, Yellowstone is the world's oldest national park, located in the state of Wyoming (United States). Spread out over 8983 km², this one is famous for its geothermal phenomena such as its extinct volcano and its hot springs. Yellowstone National Park also contains two-thirds of the geysers of the planet.

A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience on July 3, 2017 was recently conducted by geoscientist Everett L Shock, professor of geochemistry at the Arizona State University. The worker is working hard on molecules, but also on issues related to a potential existence of extraterrestrial life. Some of the Yellowstone sources harbor germs, which naturally question their ability to grow and survive under such conditions.

Everett L Shock and his team therefore studied these organisms living in the park's sources. The researchers were particularly interested in a representative of the species acidianus belonging to the sulfolobaceae, a kind of unicellular microorganisms of bacteria type with no nucleus.

The acidianus is capable of a sacred prowess by obtaining energy using several combinations (sulfur-iron / iron-hydrogen / hydrogen-sulfur). According to the researchers, the hydrogen-sulfur combination is the least energy-producing, while the iron-hydrogen combination is the most efficient at this level.

However, during the study, acidianus developed the least energy-producing mixture, which surprised the team. After further tests, the researchers developed an interesting and surprising theory: the microbe preferred to produce a mixture that was not very efficient but safe, in order not to spend too much energy and continue to develop serenely.

If this behavior of evaluating the biological stroke of an energy source is valid for a kind of microbe present on our planet, this also applies to possible organisms living on a distant exoplanet. Moreover, if organisms can survive in extreme conditions on Earth, others could do the same on extraterrestrial worlds.

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Good post. Been to Yellowstone several times. Very beautiful and unique place...but always in the back of my mind thinking about the entire place is a super volcano will eventually blow again. Not a matter of if...but when. Upvoted :-)

that is so stunning and amazing, I love that colors.

Yeah and it's a nice place to visit.

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