Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
The search for the origins of life on Earth has taken scientists to some of the most extreme environments on the planet, and an expedition by a team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the summer of 2017 was no exception. Led by marine geologist Frieder Klein, researchers dove submarines to depths of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) off the coast of a tiny cluster of islets on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Their quest? To locate signs of life in the blackness of the deep sea—organisms fueled not by sunlight but by the chemical energy from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. Klein explains how organisms found in ecosystems like this provides clues about the origin of life—on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the Universe.
Read the full story, Life on the Rocks, here: bit.ly/2jM2VQt
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The search for the origins of life on Earth has taken scientists to some of the most extreme environments on the planet, and an expedition by a team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the summer of 2017 was no exception. Led by marine geologist Frieder Klein, researchers dove submarines to depths of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) off the coast of a tiny cluster of islets on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Their quest? To locate signs of life in the blackness of the deep sea—organisms fueled not by sunlight but by the chemical energy from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. Klein explains how organisms found in ecosystems like this provides clues about the origin of life—on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the Universe.
Read the full story, Life on the Rocks, here: bit.ly/2jM2VQt
-----
Discover more beautiful and surprising stories about nature and sustainability at biographic.com
* Facebook: biographic.magazine
* Instagram: @biographic_magazine
* Twitter: @bioGraphic
