00:03sunlight it's a key ingredient of life on earth but somehow at the bottom of the ocean some
00:09incredible life forms managed to survive without it and they're not exactly few and far between
00:13science alert reports a study led by researchers from australia's monash university has found
00:18evidence of microbes all across the globe relying on chemosynthesis for energy unlike photosynthesis
00:24which converts energy from light chemosynthesis taps into the oxidation of inorganic compounds
00:29like hydrogen scientists hadn't seen it in action until the 1970s when ecosystems around deep sea
00:34hydrothermal vents were first discovered such life forms capable of getting by without sunlight
00:39were thought to be rare until now peering into 14 different seawater samples taken from the world's
00:44oceans the researchers found microbes in all but one that were able to both photosynthesize
00:48and chemosynthesize though such organisms likely use hydrogen for fuel as a last resort the researchers
00:54speculate that it may be a key energy source in the deepest darkest depths where the sun's rays
00:59can't reach and where iron is more readily available the findings were published in nature microbiology
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