Extremophiles

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That's the name of our group, and it sure fits! It's Wednesday, and our last day of the workshop~tomorrow is travel home day. Today we went to Yellowstone again to hear a ranger talk about extremophiles. A group of extremophiles called thermophiles live in the hot springs. This life such as bacteria and algae. We learned how scientists have used these thermophiles for everything from DNA tests to getting rid of rubber tires. We also talked about the possibilities of discovering extremophiles on other planets. Keeping in the spirit of the day, our group went hot potting before dinner. That's what the locals call swimming in the Yellowstone River. I know it's January, but because of the thermals, there are spots where nice warm water runs into the river. We had to walk about 1/2 a mile to get there, but it was a lot of fun. The walk back wasn't quite as bad as I imagined it would be. The worse part of the whole thing was walking on the frozen ground in bare feet getting in and out.

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