According to NASA, scientists supported by the agency have identified an organism that lives in heated waters at temperatures researchers had long considered beyond the limit for complex life.
Heat is especially dangerous for eukaryotic cells, which contain intricate internal structures such as a nucleus that protects fragile genetic material. At high temperatures, these components can break down, so scientists had assumed that only simpler microbes could survive the hottest environments.
The discovery pushes back the known heat limit for complex cells. For astrobiology, it also widens the range of conditions in which life might be possible, both in extreme places on Earth and on other worlds.
