![[An image of a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park. The hot spring is a reddish-orange color in the foreground. The colors transition to a blue and green background, from which a vapor is rising.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-27-140921.png)
The discovery of extremophiles – organisms that thrive in extreme environments – completely changed scientists’ perspectives on the conditions necessary for life. These evolutionary marvels provide context for the origins of life, evolution, and are maybe the best case for the possibility of the existence of life on other planets with extreme environments….