AMHERST, Mass., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Researchers have discovered a microbe that thrives in extreme heat and has a diet of iron, the London Independent said Friday.
The microbe has been found to thrive at 249.8 degrees, the report said.
The newly discovered micro-organism does not yet have a scientific name but its finders call it "Strain 121". The researchers, Kazem Kashefi and Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, found the tiny creature in a deep-sea volcanic vent on the bed of the Pacific Ocean, where temperatures reach 750 degrees.
They put Strain 121 in a hot oven and found that it enjoyed the experience -- colonies continued to double in size at 250 degrees.
Lovley, whose study is published in the journal "Science," said Strain 121, which eats iron, might give an insight into the conditions that led to the evolution of the first life-forms more than 3.5 billion years ago.
