What is Extremophile?
[[Image:Aerial image of Grand Prismatic Spring (view from the south).jpg|right|thumb|250px|Thermophiles, a type of extremophile, produce some of the bright colors of Grand Prismatic Spring, [[Yellowstone National Park]]]] An '''extremophile''' is an [[organism]] (a living thing) which lives best in extreme conditions that are [[harm]]ful to most life on Earth.<ref>Wilson ZE, Brimble MA 2009. Molecules derived from the extremes of life. ''Natural Product Reports'' '''26''' (1): 44–71. doi:10.1039/b800164m. PMID 19374122</ref><ref>Seckbach J; Oren A. & Stan-Lotter H. eds. 2013. ''Polyextremophiles: life under multiple forms of stress''. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 978-94-007-6488-0</ref> They are different from organisms that live in normal places, called ''mesophiles'' or ''neutrophiles''. In the 1980s and 1990s, [[Biologist|biologists]] found that [[Microorganism|microbes]] can survive in extreme environments. These are [[niche]]s that are extreme in some way. They may be extremely hot, or cold, or dry, or under huge [[pressure]], or very [[salt]]y or [[acid]]ic. Complex organisms, such as animals or plants, cannot live in these environments.<ref>Hogan, C. Michael 2010. Extremophile. In (eds) Monosson E. & Cleveland C. ''Encyclopedia of Earth''. National Council of Science & the Environment. [http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/160977/]</ref> Some scientists suggest that life may have begun on Earth in [[hydrothermal vent]]s far below the [[ocean]] surface.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/merlaunch.pdf |title=Mars exploration - Press kit |accessdate=2009-07-14 |date=June 2003 |publisher=NASA }}</ref> Environments such as hot oceans, [[hot spring]]s and deep ocean [[hydrothermal vent]]s would have been common during the [[Archaean]] [[eon]], about 3.9 [[billion]] years ago. Early forms of life lived in those conditions.<ref>Gouy M. & Chaussidon M. 2008. Ancient bacteria liked it hot. ''Nature'' '''451''': p635.</ref> == Types of extremophiles == Most known extremophiles are [[microbe