Discovery of ‘worms from hell’ deep beneath Earth’s surface raises new questions

LIfted straight out of Washington Post

Courtesy Lisa M. PrattThe Trustees of Indiana UniversityNASANational Science Foundation/ - Scientist Tullis Onstott of Princeton University opens a borehole in a section of rock wall in a South African mine near where "radiation eating microbes" were found.

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By Marc Kaufman, Wednesday, June 1, 1:00 PM

For the first time, scientists have found complex, multi-celled creatures living a mile and more below the planet’s surface, raising new possibilities about the spread of life on Earth and potential subsurface life on other planets and moons.

Nicknamed “worms from hell,” the nematodes, or roundworms, were found in several gold mines in South Africa, where researchers have also made breakthrough discoveries about deep subterranean single-cell life.

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