Editing Life (section)

=== Biosphere ===

{{main|Biosphere}}

[[File:Deinococcus geothermalis cells.jpg|thumb|''[[Deinococcus geothermalis]]'', a bacterium that thrives in [[geothermal springs]] and deep ocean subsurfaces<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liedert |first1=Christina |last2=Peltola |first2=Minna |last3=Bernhardt |first3=Jörg |last4=Neubauer |first4=Peter |last5=Salkinoja-Salonen |first5=Mirja |date=15 March 2012 |title=Physiology of Resistant Deinococcus geothermalis Bacterium Aerobically Cultivated in Low-Manganese Medium |journal=Journal of Bacteriology |language=en |volume=194 |issue=6 |pages=1552–1561 |doi=10.1128/JB.06429-11 |pmc=3294853 |pmid=22228732}}</ref>|left]]
The [[biosphere]] is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed as the zone of life on Earth, a closed system (apart from solar and cosmic radiation and heat from the interior of the Earth), and largely self-regulating.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia|edition=6th |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2004 |url=https://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/biosphere.jsp |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027194858/http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/biosphere.jsp |archive-date=27 October 2011 |title=Biosphere }}</ref> Organisms exist<!--not necessarily metabolising--> in every part of the biosphere, including [[soil]], [[hot spring]]s, [[endolith|inside rocks]] at least {{convert|12|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} deep underground, the deepest parts of the ocean, and at least {{convert|40|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} high in the atmosphere.<ref name="SD-19980625-UG">{{cite web |author=University of Georgia |title=First-Ever Scientific Estimate Of Total Bacteria On Earth Shows Far Greater Numbers Than Ever Known Before |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/08/980825080732.htm |date=25 August 1998 |website=[[Science Daily]] |access-date=10 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110162101/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/08/980825080732.htm |archive-date=10 November 2014 }}</ref><ref name="ABM-20150112">{{cite web |last=Hadhazy |first=Adam |title=Life Might Thrive a Dozen Miles Beneath Earth's Surface |url=http://www.astrobio.net/extreme-life/life-might-thrive-dozen-miles-beneath-earths-surface/ |date=12 January 2015 |website=[[Astrobiology Magazine]] |access-date=11 March 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312065614/http://www.astrobio.net/extreme-life/life-might-thrive-dozen-miles-beneath-earths-surface/ |archive-date=12 March 2017 }}</ref><ref name="BBC-20151124">{{cite web |last=Fox-Skelly |first=Jasmin |title=The Strange Beasts That Live in Solid Rock Deep Underground |url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151124-meet-the-strange-creatures-that-live-in-solid-rock-deep-underground |date=24 November 2015 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=11 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125013248/http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151124-meet-the-strange-creatures-that-live-in-solid-rock-deep-underground |archive-date=25 November 2016 }}</ref> For example, spores of ''[[Aspergillus niger]]'' have been detected in the [[mesosphere]] at an altitude of 48 to 77&nbsp;km.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Imshenetsky |first1=AA |last2=Lysenko |first2=SV |last3=Kazakov |first3=GA |date=June 1978 |title=Upper boundary of the biosphere |journal=Applied and Environmental Microbiology |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.1128/aem.35.1.1-5.1978 |pmc=242768 |pmid=623455|bibcode=1978ApEnM..35....1I }}</ref> Under test conditions, life forms have been observed to survive in the vacuum of space.<ref name="Dose">{{cite journal |title=ERA-experiment "space biochemistry" |journal=Advances in Space Research |volume=16 |issue=8 |year=1995 |pages=119–129 |doi=10.1016/0273-1177(95)00280-R |pmid=11542696 |last1=Dose |first1=K. |last2=Bieger-Dose |first2=A. |last3=Dillmann |first3=R. |last4=Gill |first4=M. |last5=Kerz |first5=O. |last6=Klein |first6=A. |last7=Meinert |first7=H. |last8=Nawroth |first8=T. |last9=Risi |first9=S. | last10=Stridde | first10=C. |bibcode=1995AdSpR..16h.119D}}</ref><ref name="Horneck">{{cite journal |title=Biological responses to space: results of the experiment "Exobiological Unit" of ERA on EURECA I |journal=Adv. Space Res. |year=1995 |author1=Horneck G. |author2=Eschweiler, U. |author3=Reitz, G. |author4=Wehner, J. |author5=Willimek, R. |author6=Strauch, K. |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=105–118 |pmid=11542695 |bibcode=1995AdSpR..16h.105H |doi=10.1016/0273-1177(95)00279-N}}</ref> Life forms thrive in the deep [[Mariana Trench]],<ref name="NG-20130317">{{cite journal |last1=Glud |first1=Ronnie |last2=Wenzhöfer |first2=Frank |last3=Middelboe |first3=Mathias |last4=Oguri |first4=Kazumasa |last5=Turnewitsch |first5=Robert |last6=Canfield |first6=Donald E. |last7=Kitazato |first7=Hiroshi |title=High rates of microbial carbon turnover in sediments in the deepest oceanic trench on Earth |doi=10.1038/ngeo1773 |date=17 March 2013 |journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=284–288 |bibcode=2013NatGe...6..284G}}</ref> and inside rocks up to {{convert|580|m|ft mi|abbr=on}} below the sea floor under {{convert|2590|m|ft mi|abbr=on}} of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States,<ref name="LS-20130317">{{cite web |last=Choi |first=Charles Q. |title=Microbes Thrive in Deepest Spot on Earth |url=http://www.livescience.com/27954-microbes-mariana-trench.html |date=17 March 2013 |publisher=[[LiveScience]] |access-date=17 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402234623/http://www.livescience.com/27954-microbes-mariana-trench.html |archive-date=2 April 2013 }}</ref><ref name="LS-20130314">{{cite web |last=Oskin |first=Becky |title=Intraterrestrials: Life Thrives in Ocean Floor |url=http://www.livescience.com/27899-ocean-subsurface-ecosystem-found.html |date=14 March 2013 |publisher=[[LiveScience]] |access-date=17 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402235647/http://www.livescience.com/27899-ocean-subsurface-ecosystem-found.html |archive-date=2 April 2013 }}</ref> and {{convert|2400|m|ft mi|abbr=on}} beneath the seabed off Japan.<ref name="BBC-20141215-RM">{{cite news |last=Morelle |first=Rebecca |author-link=Rebecca Morelle |title=Microbes discovered by deepest marine drill analysed |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30489814 |date=15 December 2014 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=15 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216185424/http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30489814 |archive-date=16 December 2014 }}</ref> In 2014, life forms were found living {{convert|800|m|ft mi|abbr=on}} below the ice of Antarctica.<ref name="NAT-20140820">{{cite journal |last=Fox |first=Douglas |title=Lakes under the ice: Antarctica's secret garden |date=20 August 2014 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=512 |issue=7514 |pages=244–246 |doi=10.1038/512244a |bibcode=2014Natur.512..244F |pmid=25143097 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="FRB-20140820">{{cite web |last=Mack |first=Eric |title=Life Confirmed Under Antarctic Ice; Is Space Next? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/08/20/life-confirmed-under-antarctic-ice-is-space-next/ |date=20 August 2014 |website=[[Forbes]] |access-date=21 August 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822002442/http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/08/20/life-confirmed-under-antarctic-ice-is-space-next/ |archive-date=22 August 2014 }}</ref> Expeditions of the [[International Ocean Discovery Program]] found [[unicellular]] life in 120&nbsp;°C sediment 1.2&nbsp;km below seafloor in the [[Nankai Trough]] [[subduction]] zone.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Heuer |first1=Verena B. |last2=Inagaki |first2=Fumio |last3=Morono |first3=Yuki |last4=Kubo |first4=Yusuke |last5=Spivack |first5=Arthur J. |last6=Viehweger |first6=Bernhard |last7=Treude |first7=Tina |last8=Beulig |first8=Felix |last9=Schubotz |first9=Florence |last10=Tonai |first10=Satoshi |last11=Bowden |first11=Stephen A.|date=4 December 2020 |title=Temperature limits to deep subseafloor life in the Nankai Trough subduction zone |journal=Science |volume=370 |issue=6521 |pages=1230–1234 |doi=10.1126/science.abd7934 |pmid=33273103 |bibcode=2020Sci...370.1230H |hdl=2164/15700 |s2cid=227257205 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b65v425 |hdl-access=free |access-date=5 November 2023 |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926003958/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b65v425 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to one researcher, "You can find [[microbe]]s everywhere—they're extremely adaptable to conditions, and survive wherever they are."<ref name="LS-20130317" />{{Clear}}