Traces of life discovered in strange blue volcanic mud
Scientists have detected chemical traces of life in rare blue mud from a deep-sea volcano near Mariana Trench, about 3,000 metres below Pacific Ocean. Lipid molecules usually found in microbial cell membranes were recovered from the brucite- and serpentinite-rich mud, with pH of nearly 12. This shows that living microbes can survive in toxic mud despite not having many nutrients.