Newly Discovered Microscopic Worm Thrives in Gold Mines a Kilometer Underground

[Bok]

Deep in South Africa's gold mines water can be found in rock fractures, hosting bacteria that feed off the stone itself and form biofilms on the hard surfaces. Now new samples pulled from these sunless pools show that nematodes--roundworms of varying size that are essentially tubes with a digestive tract and thrive everywhere on the planet--likely graze on these bacterial films, surviving more than a kilometer underground. In fact, an entirely new species of nematode --dubbed Halicephalobus mephisto for a lifestyle reminiscent of Faust's underworld demon, Mephistopheles, or "he who loves not the light"--makes its home only in the deep subsurface, suggesting that life, even complex, multicellular life, may populate sulphate-loving ecosystems in the planet's unexplored depths. [More] (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-microscopic-worm-thrives-deep-underground)

http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:de920dc8e0d08f28fab4d0aa1ad834c0:wIvoG%2FnUhzdHtTYVJFnlTT9Ioux7kJK%2Bg Vy90bwYoAH%2BCSOS%2FB9CSSTGiLjlHi49Q1JflezkSxG%2BFA%3D%3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/stumbleit.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:2e9b2fe64c33d76f3788ea6bcad8bb75:G4rxiExo8OhJRVX7gBZjieG6hPTVyHgXdZQd9 NvHZ0taPlkJkn9vsMgkvB39xIFSE%2FIFMvQhm275idA%3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/reddit.png (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:afa7e50baea1f92749c80d8545f2a6f6:0s3YQKUP0cWTM4D0N5e2wdcIl9F3NnIGZU00B LEsDPZbK7He7J7QIBHBf5nm0KnAJUGLA0jpmfjdQA%3D%3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/facebook.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:5183b5e67ed14504b15dedfcfb139f4d:9fkVR2G%2FN26Hn1gDDxvhJ2UUdZsaxz3sOvx vCr9KrjmPX6K167FnTlKKP0ajIyPxzpPd0avSpsJESvY%3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/delicious.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:d7bc65b51cb3aeab711edc3ecd10ca94:hI0CLLcfyFLWBpUcE3Id1Fv7ZqvQpqhC1DuHh dY2FMwzg99qsyUlht375ANQJyEJv8AizPq8xDn2rA%3D%3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/emailthis.png (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:47b8045d9485ada6a3d54dcf9902c2cb:vjWRtSynEV6kjjAEQh2%2FTw0rW3uXrgqCF5V MG3l8d5LBUxBT1CSBRb8lk9fE%2FH5QmFbosBL4Dd2OZg%3D%3D)
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://segment-pixel.invitemedia.com/pixel?code=News&partnerID=167&key=segmenthttp://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-8bUhLiluj0fAw.gif?labels=pub.23518.rss.News.10198,cat.News.rsshttp://amch.questionmarket.com/adsc/d887846/17/909940/adscout.php

More... (http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=451e5daa96be42fea5b9a12ac7e08785)