This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
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On the heels of science art about how "we all eat the sun," I was thinking about the few exceptions to that rule. As my high school biology teacher would often say, "Always and never are never true in biology!"
But when the ecosystems surrounding hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean were discovered in the late 70s, everyone was stunned. Life was thriving in a place no one thought life could have hacked it. I feel like we need to remember this when we search for environments that might sustain life on other planets. It might look nothing like what we think it will. [Insert quote from Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park.]