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We are just on the edge of great discoveries of the communities that live in the deep ocean. The more we look for life, the more we find even in the most obscure places. Maybe our new question should be, where is life absent? The discovery of these communities creates many more questions then they answer. For example, how are the animals distributing themselves? Even more pressing is the question, how are the bacteria distributing themselves? Are they already in the sediment all over the world in small numbers or, for instance, are the larger member of the fauna distributing them? The answers to these questions will be found in the integration of physics, biology, geology, oceanography, and chemistry. As far as we know, microbes are present at 800 meters below he surface of the sediment, but is this the limit? The deeper we look, the deeper we may find life. The understanding of these communities that use alternative fuel sources are critical to the search of life on other planets. The presence of life in some of the harshest place on Earth brings hope to the discovery of life on other planets. Understanding how to find the signals or traces in the sediments around each community that indicate the presence of life may is very useful when looking for life on other planets. Therefore, before we start to look for life on other planets, we need to understand life and its limits on our planet. Deep ocean biologists have many challenges ahead of them. Studying the communities in situ raises critical issues such as money, safety, and other logistic problems. If the members of fauna are brought to the surface to study, differences in temperature and pressure restrict hypothesis testing. Furthermore, bacteria is very hard to study without colonization and bacteria colonies are extremely hard to make at the surface. However, technology is rapidly changing leading to new techniques of studying bacteria and new ways of getting down to the different communities. |