Just a few weeks after scientists announced evidence of ancient life on Mars, scientists found a new life form on Earth. This one-celled organism named "archea" has been found to contain genetic material that is 2/3's different than any other organism found on Earth. These organisms are similar to both bacteria and the more complex eucaryotes in that they lack a nuclear membrane and have only one chromesome. But their cellular functions resemble those of eucaryotes.

Archea live in areas previously thought to be inhospitable to any form of life. They were collected from a thermal vent 8060 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. It exists in the vent walls between the cold of the surrounding ocean and the extreme heat - of about 600 degrees Farenheight - of the steam in the vent.

To have found a new and unique type of life on Earth, where we once thought that life could not exist, leads one to believe that there may be other forms of life out there. Perhaps it is that we just do not have the technology nor comprehension of the parameters of life to identify what to look for in these new environments.