Earthworms thriving in naturally occurring geothermal soils offer rare insight into rapid adaptation to environmental extremes. Here, we show that the pantropical earthworm Amynthas gracilis survives ...

Ellesmere Island plunges to −50°C (−58°F) in winter with wind chills reaching −70°C, making it one of Earth's coldest regions north of 80°N latitude. Ward Hunt Ice Shelf retreated 90% since 2000; Ayle

An expedition to the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean has unveiled thriving ecosystems of strange and extreme life forms. Using a submersible vehicle, researchers from the Chinese Academy of…

Wild animals that have acquired adaptions to maximize their reproductive output in some of the world’s most extreme conditions may provide answers to some of the most pressing problems in the field of human reproductive health. •           A new journal article by Michelle Shero, assistant scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Biology Department, examines how the study of seals in particular can benefit human health, and synthesizes various research on the topic. Several aspects in the life history of seals that could provide significant insight into their reproductive physiology – as well as that of humans – include female seals’ ability to undergo lengthy fasting and lose about 30% of their body weight while nursing a pup. Seals also have an exceptional ability to hold their breath for up to two hours in some species for long dives. Additionally, seals have the ability to ‘pause’ pregnancy, through a process known as embryonic diapause, so they can give birth during benign environmental conditions. •           In seeking ways to improve human health, we should be looking to the extraordinary feats of wild animals. They have often found the most innovative solutions.

A&S biologists study the mechanisms that have allowed microbial eukaryotes to thrive in the extreme conditions of a geothermal lake.

Snow chimneys are hollow tubes in Antarctic ice sheets carved by superheated geothermal steam rising 60°C above surrounding ice. Mount Erebus hosts the most famous snow chimney ice caves, releasing vo

Don Juan Pond contains water with 40.2% salinity—approximately 5 times saltier than Earth's oceans at 3.5%, with 333 grams of dissolved salts per liter Located in McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, rece

Hydrothermal vent creatures survive at 2.5 km depth using chemosynthesis—bacteria oxidize hydrogen sulfide into energy independent of any sunlight Giant tube worms exceed 2 meters long with no mouth o

Hillenbrand Seamount rises from 3,600+ meters depth to 1,200 meters below surface, 350 kilometers west of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Bellingshausen Sea. Black smoker vents expel 360°C superheated

Hydrothermal vent creatures survive at 2.5 km depth using chemosynthesis—bacteria oxidize hydrogen sulfide into energy independent of any sunlight Giant tube worms exceed 2 meters long with no mouth o