Extremophiles are microbes that have adapted to extreme environments, such as Utah’s Great Salt Lake. But new microorganisms can be found in everyday places, and scientists are showing school kids how to discover and name their own new species

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif; May 28, 2008.- Thanks to advances in computer technology and DNA testing, scientists are identifying new species faster than ever. There are literally millions and millions of animals, plants and other living creatures all around us.

Elin Kelsey, a science writer, says, “Scientists are discovering more new species today than at any other time in history.”

Among the latest discoveries are tiny microorganisms. Hundreds fit on the head of a pin, yet they’re tough enough to survive in Utah’s Great Salt Lake. “They’ve all figured out how to be able to survive in very high salt,” says Lynn Rothschild, an astrobiologist at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

“It’s so salty; it’s 10-times saltier than the sea,” Kelsey tells DBIS. This new organism is an extremophile, which means it likes to live in extreme environments.

Kelsey wants kids to learn about the new species that micro- and astrobiologists are discovering and to get involved. “I hope they really take away the wonder of the world, you know, that there are so many places in which life can exist and does exist,” she says.

Kelsey shows kids how to find new species using things they have a home. “It really just stretches the idea of where life can exist on Earth and where life could exist, perhaps, in the universe.”

Kids are being asked to come up with a name for the new species and submit it to become part of scientific history. “The idea that kids, themselves, might be able to name something and have that name go on in perpetuity for a real living organism — a newly discovered species — that’s very spectacular,” Kelsey says.

So does this look like a Charlie? Fluffy? Rover? How about Frosty? If you have a good name, send it in!

So far, the names of rock stars have topped the list of names submitted. Kids between ages 7 and 15 can submit their ideas by logging onto www.mapletreepress.com. The deadline for entries is March 31. The winner will be announced on Earth Day, which is April 22. Elin Kelsey has written a new kids book, “Strange New Species”.

(Science Daily)

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