From the interior of desert rocks to hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, life has adapted to extraordinary environments. And yet many such species are threatened by human activities and changing climate. Today, the European Commission's international Coordination Action for Research on Life in Extreme Environments (CAREX) project launched its roadmap identifying the most important questions for extreme environment researchers to address. As research priorities, the report identified life's response to climate and environmental change, its adaptation methods, understanding biodiversity and interactions within extreme environments, and finding limits of habitability which could inform the search for extraterrestrial life. It also addressed some of the technical and infrastructure challenges involved in studying extreme environments.
Sometimes I feel like an extremophile. To read the rest of the article, click here.