This blog post discusses a new article that my colleagues and I recently published in the journal, Astrobiology. Those with access to this journal can find the article here. Life on Earth is not limited to the planet’s surface, but reaches high into the atmosphere and deep underground. In the darkness, miles beneath our feet,…

For billions of years, microbes like bacteria have quietly transformed the Earth. They have re-routed the flow of nutrients around our planet, infused the atmosphere with oxygen, and built the biosphere from the bottom up. It is hard to overstate the palaeontological importance of “simple” single-celled micro-organisms. Unfortunately for palaeontologists, however, these small, soft, delicate…