Living bacteria discovered in tiny ‘death star’ habitats within flammable ice provide a ‘tantalising clue’ about how alien life could exist in the brutal conditions of outer space
- Scientists have found microbial life within microscopic bubbles in flammable ice
- Tiny ‘death star’ habitats are grown by the bacteria in near freezing temperatures
- Flammable ice forms when ice traps methane within its molecular structure
Scientists have discovered the existence of life inside tiny bubbles within sheets of ‘flammable ice’ that could show how aliens exist on other planets.
Flammable ice, or methane hydrate, forms when ice traps methane within its molecular structure.
The team found tiny habitats, dubbed ‘death stars’, that are grown by bacteria within pockets of oil and water in flammable ice sheets from the Sea of Japan.
The fact that microhabitats exist in near-freezing temperatures provides tantalising clues about the existence of life on other planets, the scientists say.
Scientists have dubbed this image of a microhabitat that grew in methane hydrate the ‘Death Star’ – it grew from microbial activity at near freezing temperatures, deep underwater, in one of the countless isolated pockets of saltwater and oil found within methane hydrate
‘In combination with the other evidence collected by my colleagues, my results showed that even under near-freezing temperatures, at extremely high pressures, with only heavy oil and saltwater for food sources, life was flourishing and leaving its mark,’ said Dr Stephen Bowden at the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences.
‘Providing they have ice and a little heat, all those frigid cold planets at the edge of every planetary system could host tiny microhabitats with microbes building their own “death stars” and making their own tiny little atmospheres and ecosystems, just as we discovered here.’
Methane comes from buried organic matter after it’s ingested by bacteria or heated and cooked.
The gas migrates upward, under high pressure and low temperature, and can combine with water to form methane hydrate, or ‘flammable gas’.
Dr Glen T Snyder, lead author of the study, from Meiji University in Japan, had been melting hydrate to study methane gas when he noticed an unusual powder consisting of microscopic spheroids with mysterious dark cores.
Using analytical techniques suited to small sample quantities, Dr Bowden was able to show that oil was being degraded in the micro-environments within the methane hydrate.
Lake Baikal Bubbles in the ice caused by methane gas produced by algae in Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake in Siberia, Russia
The methane in methane hydrate is known to form as microbes degrade organic matter on the seafloor.
‘But what we never expected to find was microbes continuing to grow and produce these spheroids, all of the time while isolated in tiny cold dark pockets of saltwater and oil,’ said Dr Snyder.
The discovery stemmed from a larger project led by Professor Ryo Matsumoto from Meiji University in Japan.
Yellow patches within the frozen hydrate, which represent the microdolomite habitats, dubbed ‘death stars’
This study was a result of calls by the US Department back in 2014 for research proposals to tap into the great potential of flammable ice as a green energy source.
Methane is the main ingredient of natural gas and is naturally occurring, meaning it emits less waste carbon than traditional fossil fuels.
Natural supplies of the methane, such of those in Japan and along Alaska’s North Slope, could therefore be plentiful and environmentally friendly to burn.
The new discovery of the microhabitats is detailed in Scientific Reports.
