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Life Under the Atacama Desert
May 16 , 2026
15 hrs 0 min
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- Scientists discovered a microbial ecosystem two metres below the surface of the Atacama Desert in Chile.
- The ecosystem contains bacteria, archaea, DNA, and microscopic roundworms called nematodes living in extreme desert conditions.
- The Atacama Desert is the driest hot desert in the world and is widely used for astrobiology studies because its environment is similar to Mars.
- Earlier studies found microbial life mainly within the top 30 centimetres of soil, but recent findings show life can survive at much greater depths.
- Researchers from the University of Cologne collected 112 soil samples from six regions and identified at least 36 genera from 21 nematode families.a
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