Life Discovered on Dead Hydrothermal Vents

Summary: At USC, scientists have discovered that when blistering hot hydrothermal sea vents go dormant and turn frigid, life goes on. The microbes that thrive off of the warm fluid methane and sulfur that the active vents spew are replaced by microbes that live on the solid iron and sulfur that make up the actual vents. It has been known for many years that active vents provide heat and nutrients to support microbes, but it was thought that the dormant vents were thought empty of life.

Critique: It's always cool to see that life goes on after things happen, like a forest regrowing after a fire. It's also neat to prove something that people have thought to be untrue. I would like to see how the succession from one group of microbes to another goes so I hope that they continue to study this.

Impact: People used to not pay attention to these after they stopped venting, now this opens up a bunch of new doors. Perhaps there is as much to study after the hydrothermal sea vents stop venting as there is when they are.

Reference: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2012/01/24/life_discovered_on_dead_hydrothermal_vents.html