A new DNA analysis of rocky soils in the martian-like landscape on some volcanoes in South America has revealed a handful of bacteria, fungi, and other rudimentary organisms, called archaea, which seem to have a different way of converting energy than their cousins elsewhere in the world. The rocky, barren landscape of the Atacama mountain range is inhospitable to life, including simple organisms like bacteria, archae and fungi (Steve Schmidt) “We...
