--- title: Deep Water Shrimp Offer Evidence of Life on Inhospitable Planets description: NASA scientists say that deep water shrimp, thriving in scorching hot water devoid of sunlight, could offer clues of how alien lifeforms might survive on a distant planet. canonical: https://time.com/3602075/deep-water-shrimp-evidence-life-planets-science/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-24T14:46:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:07.793Z article:section: Science og:title: Deep Water Shrimp Offer Evidence of Life on Inhospitable Planets og:description: NASA scientists say that deep water shrimp, thriving in scorching hot water devoid of sunlight, could offer clues of how alien lifeforms might survive on a distant planet. og:url: https://time.com/3602075/deep-water-shrimp-evidence-life-planets-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a657e553ca2a2f3/69876a832dce0169979dbf67/extreme-shrimp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Extreme Shrimp og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Deep Water Shrimp Offer Evidence of Life on Inhospitable Planets twitter:description: NASA scientists say that deep water shrimp, thriving in scorching hot water devoid of sunlight, could offer clues of how alien lifeforms might survive on a distant planet. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a657e553ca2a2f3/69876a832dce0169979dbf67/extreme-shrimp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Deep Water Shrimp Offer Evidence of Life on Inhospitable Planets > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=0fb2d415-2774-4d44-8066-991cc09d73fc&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life [Watch (HLS stream): Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O9gL0DSQ.m3u8) (2:15)  _Published 2014-11-24. Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life_  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Nov 24, 2014 2:46 PM UTC  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Nov 24, 2014 2:46 PM UTC NASA scientists [say](http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/extreme-shrimp-may-hold-clues-to-alien-life/#.VHND%5F6X%5FQ1f) that deep water shrimp, thriving in scorching hot water devoid of sunlight, could offer clues to how alien lifeforms might survive on a distant planet. The tiny shrimp cluster around thermal vents, which are submerged 7,500 feet below the ocean’s surface and spew scorching hot water at temperatures reaching 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The blind shrimp can move within an inch of the hot water by using thermal receptors in the backs of their heads, and feed on hydrogen sulfide, a chemical that is normally toxic to organisms, but can be converted into energy with the help of specialized bacteria in the shrimp’s mouth and gills. “It’s a remarkable symbiotic system,” says Max Coleman, senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “You go along the ocean bottom and there’s nothing, effectively, and then suddenly we get these hydrothermal vents and a massive ecosystem. It’s just literally teeming with life.” Scientists believe the shrimp offer proof of how an organism might survive on an inhospitable planet, such as Europa, an icy moon orbiting Jupiter. Astronomers have found evidence of an ocean beneath the planet’s surface. With the right amount of thermal energy, researchers say, it too may be teeming with life. ## Transcript It isn't immediately apparent how looking at the bottom of the ocean on earth can help us look for life on Europa. But it does. Despite the fact that Europa is very much smaller than Earth, it has a very deep ocean. We don't know if there is life in it but it could have great similarities to oceans on earth. Here we are deep in the ocean in the middle of the Caribbean about 50 miles south of Grand Cayman. We go down to the part of the ocean which is completely dark if it weren't for the lights on this ROV, remotely operated vehicle [ MUSIC ] These hydrothermal vents, volcanic hot springs, occur only at very, very few places. The water can be at a temperate of 450 farenheit or in some other nearby areas, up to 770 degrees farenheit and yet an inch away from these spouts of hot water, we get lots, and lots, and lots of shrimp. These shrimp are blind cuz there's no light down there. They have no need for eyes. So how does life exist on Earth at these great depths? The answer is that in the absence of sunlight which normally provides the energy for making food, we have energy from chemicals [ MUSIC ] Coming out from volcanic hot springs on the ocean floor. They provide the energy to bacteria, which provide energy for shrimp and other organisms that live off them. By looking at these systems in detail, we can calculate the amount of living. Biomass being supported by the chemical energy coming out from the hydrothermal vents, the sub- marine hot springs. Our investigations at the bottom of the ocean on Earth not only have found out things which we didn't know about Earth's biology, but give us a great connection with what might be happening on Europa, that distant moon of Jupiter. 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