Presently pursuing higher education, Matthew “Matt” Kafker is focused on math and science subjects. Among Matt Kafker’s research areas has been microbial ecology, which looks at environmental conditions and stimuli that influence the behavior of bacteria colonies.
A team led by the French National Centre for Scientific Research recently discovered one area on the planet where no life is present. This is in Ethiopia’s hyperacid, saline ponds within the Dallol geothermal field.
This landscape inhabits a salt-filled volcanic crater that has boiling water and toxic gases emanating from intense hydrothermal activity. Characterized as a “multi-extreme environment,” the location has daily winter temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius, coupled with hypersaline and hyperacid pools that veer into negative pH values.
While microbial life, brought by human visitors and the wind, does exist nearby, it is not present in pools of waters that are hot and hyperacid. The value of this information is described as being that of defining the limits of habitability on Earth and beyond.
A team led by the French National Centre for Scientific Research recently discovered one area on the planet where no life is present. This is in Ethiopia’s hyperacid, saline ponds within the Dallol geothermal field.
This landscape inhabits a salt-filled volcanic crater that has boiling water and toxic gases emanating from intense hydrothermal activity. Characterized as a “multi-extreme environment,” the location has daily winter temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius, coupled with hypersaline and hyperacid pools that veer into negative pH values.
While microbial life, brought by human visitors and the wind, does exist nearby, it is not present in pools of waters that are hot and hyperacid. The value of this information is described as being that of defining the limits of habitability on Earth and beyond.