The geysers, mud pots, fumaroles and thermal springs that attract millions of visitors to Yellowstone National Park every year also attract a growing number of scientists.
The brilliant yellow, orange and red hues that tinge some of the hot springs are microbes that live in these boiling hot environments. Organisms that are adapted to live under extreme conditions of heat, cold, pressure, depth or chemical environment are called extremophiles.
Scientists are interested in studying extremophiles because these organisms live in conditions that are known to exist on other planets, so our search for understanding the life forms we might find on Mars can begin in our own backyard.
For more on extremophiles in Yellowstone and elsewhere, click here.
Photo of Old Faithful by the author.
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