When it comes to the investigation of key ecosystems in the world, we often omit salt from the
ecological recipe. In fact, despite occupying almost half of the volume of inland waters and …

Abstract The Afar Depression is a unique place on Earth where active rift processes can be
directly observed. It is believed to be close to continental breakup. The Afar hotspot has a …

We revisit the hypothesis that there is life in the venusian clouds to propose a life cycle that
resolves the conundrum of how life can persist aloft for hundreds of millions to billions of …

Microbial life has adapted to various individual extreme conditions; yet, organisms
simultaneously adapted to very low pH, high salt and high temperature are unknown. We …

We present a case for the exploration of Venus as an astrobiology target—(1) investigations
focused on the likelihood that liquid water existed on the surface in the past, leading to the …

The presence of most of the atoms involved in the building up of living cells can be
explained by their intrinsic physico-chemical properties. Yet, the involvement of the alkali …

The recent discovery of extrasolar Earth-like planets that orbit in their habitable zone of their
system, and the latest clues of the presence of liquid water in the subsurface of Mars and in …

Our understanding of the microbial diversity inhabiting hypersaline environments, here
defined as containing> 100–150 g/L salts, has greatly increased in the past five years …

The principal features, geotectonic settings and association with near-surface hydrothermal
mineral systems of ancient and present subaerial hot springs, fumaroles and geysers are …

The search for signs of life through the detection of exoplanet atmosphere biosignature
gases is gaining momentum. Yet, only a handful of rocky exoplanet atmospheres are …