We humans would need a spacesuit to survive on another planet, although there are beings living on Earth that can comfortably exist in “an alien world” without any help at all.
These creatures have full alien structures such as scaly feet, high heat resistance, hibernation… Photo: 20 Century Fox
First, around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor are clusters of living organisms that thrive in temperatures as high as 464 degrees Celsius (867 degrees Fahrenheit). Among them, there is a special species of snail belonging to the genus of scalloped gastropods, discovered in 2001. A little more than 2cm wide, the body of the scalloped snail is covered with metal parts taken from environment on the bottom of the ocean.
In addition, there is a creature called Pompeii worm, which lives by clinging to the outside of columns of smoke rising from hydrothermal vents on the sea floor. This creature is 12cm long, wearing a layer of bacteria that helps protect from the terrible heat of the environment, making it able to withstand temperatures up to 80 degrees Celsius (nearly 180 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Dr Maggie Georgieva, an expert on the ecology of hydrothermal vents, points out that very few living things can withstand such heat. “Most animals can’t cope with anything above 40 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, microorganisms can survive in temperatures up to about 120 degrees Celsius,” she said.
Among these extremely heat-tolerant microorganisms is a group of tiny organisms known as Archaea. These living fossils not only thrive in high temperatures, but also in acidic environments that burn flesh.
In addition, a special microorganism, of the genus Picrophilus, can survive in the strongly acidic environment from the mines and is used to rebalance the acidity of the waste.
In addition to animals and plants, the Earth is also home to many other species. Photo: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Living cells were even found miles from the seabed, off the coast of Newfoundland, which suggested to scientists that life could exist at even deeper depths.
Live bacteria are also found in Antarctic ice drill cores. These tiny creatures, thought to be up to half a million years old, prove that life can survive even in permanent deep freeze.
Even when the situation turns dangerous, some creatures may “pause” until things get better. In 1995, researchers revived a bacterium taken from the intestines of a bee that had been preserved in amber for at least 25 million years.
Through this study, scientists believe that there may be places in the Solar System that are inhospitable to humans, where other microorganisms still thrive. And whether the microorganisms on our Earth are aliens that have existed for millions of years?
