Now that the tardigrade genome is being sequenced and analyzed, we may learn how these creatures finesse suspended animation. And perhaps we can modify our own genomes to do the same thing for long space journeys. Plus the fact that they can exist in vacuum means that other organisms might have a tun-like state, drifting through space in search of new worlds to thrive on.
Giant sulfur-eaters of the deep
They live at the edges of molten-hot volcanic vents deep beneath the ocean, and they feed on sulfides delivered to them by local bacteria. These giant tube worms, which can reach 7 feet in length, live a mile below the ocean surface under extreme pressure. Their tips are bright red because they're filled with blood - these worms are seriously packed with blood vessels. And they prefer live at the edge of "black smokers," volcanic vents where temperatures can be extremely hot.
What does this tell us about life on other planets?
The interesting thing about giant tube worms isn't that they can withstand extreme heat, but that they can gain nourishment in an environment with chemistry radically different from our atmosphere. They're basically eating sulfides, which are abundant on planets like Venus, where it occasionally snows iron sulfide. Could tube worms thrive on Venus, with its heat and high pressures and sulfide weather?
What does this tell us about life on other planets?
Like the tube worms, these microbes are able to gain energy and thrive on chemical compounds totally alien to typical Earth creatures. A creature that eats iron oxides, instead of photosynthesizing light or chomping on organic compounds like we do? It could possibly thrive in the salty, iron-rich seas beneath the thick layer of ice that covers Jupiter's moon Europa.
