Exploratour: NASA's Exploration for Life

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Other kinds of life on Earth which live in very extreme environments are creatures such as these. These are called thermophiles. They live at the bottom of the ocean near deep ocean thermal vents called smokers. They survive without sunlight or photosynthesis by absorbing nutrients from the water in the thermal vents.

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA