Twenty-five years ago, New Zealand researchers Roy Daniel and Hugh Morgan made an arduous six-week expedition across sea, ice, and snow in search of thermophilic bacteria on the volcanic slopes of Mount Erebus, the world's most southerly active volcano. Erebus rises some 3,660 meters from Ross Island, in the icy oceans near Antarctica. As the two men made their way to within 90 meters of the summit, they battled temperatures that dropped to -35ºC (-31ºF), with a wind chill that made it feel like -70ºC (-94ºF).
While the air was bitterly cold, the algae-covered soil the men were sampling was warm to the touch, courtesy of underground vents. The ground was stripped of snow and ice, and reached a surprisingly warm 70ºC (158ºF) just inches below the surface. That made sampling tricky. "You could, in theory, stick your finger into extremely hot soil and almost have your thumb getting frostbite ...
