A group of experts representing the scientific community Europlanet has declared the Danakil depression in Ethiopia as the most inhospitable point on Earth. The creatures that were able to survive in this dangerous territory could give a person an idea of what alien life might look like.
The "alien" valley even looks like a fantastic world - it is made like that by various salts that "painted" the landscape in all sorts of colors, including light green, bright yellow, white and dark red. The air in the valley is saturated with chlorine and sulfur vapors, and the water is heated to almost boiling point and contains a huge variety of dangerous impurities. Nevertheless, according to scientists, even under such conditions, the valley is not uninhabited - it is inhabited by microorganisms that make up at least three completely viable ecosystems, astrobiology.com reports.
At the same time, according to the researchers, due to the harsh conditions prevailing in the valley that make it difficult to study it, it has hardly been studied: very few scientific works have been devoted to it, and not a single one has been devoted to its inhabitants. This month, experts began a study to fill this gap. During this expedition, traces of "extraterrestrial" life were found.
The water in the valley is heated up to 90 degrees Celsius and saturated with acids because they pass through rocks heated by lava flows. In many of its features, this water can resemble the one that existed on Earth even before the birth of life on it.
Among the scientific goals that scientists set themselves is a more thorough study of the geochemical composition of the water and stones of the valley, as well as the study of the DNA of its inhabitants. The results, according to experts, will allow one to imagine what the simplest microorganisms might look like if they inhabit planets with a less hospitable climate than the Earth.
Not so long ago, NASA specialists, who needed to conduct an experiment in "unearthly" conditions, without leaving the Earth, chose an area near the city of Lima, the capital of Peru. There, the researchers plan to grow potatoes in special greenhouses.
Dmitry Erusalimsky
