Hidden Bacteria “Biosphere” Found Lurking 4 Meters Beneath Earth's Driest Hot Desert

An abundance of microbial life has been found in Chile’s Atacama Desert, lurking up to 4 meters (13 feet) below the surface of one of the most arid and inhospitable places on the planet. The Atacama is the driest nonpolar desert – but not the driest place on Earth, that title belongs to somewhere you might not expect – receiving just 1 to 3 millimeters (0.04 to 0.1 inches) of precipitation per year in some places. But that hasn’t stopped …