In these fascinating and extreme conditions, different microorganisms have adapted to the high temperatures and acidity of surface fumaroles or to subzero temperatures in the glaciers. Polyextremophiles, for example, adapted to multiple of these extreme factors, thrive in this environment.🔥❄️

🌋Deception Island is actually a collapsed volcano, now formed by a ring of volcanic hills and glaciers around a central natural harbor.

🤔Although mostly submerged, it’s still active! Making it a unique place where hot and cold coexist.

💡This is a clear example of how life forms adapted to survive in the harshest conditions can inspire —and directly power— solutions for human well-being.

👉 What other sectors do you think could benefit from these “masters of survival”?

🦠Take Pseudoalteromonas sp., a marine extremophile bacterium. It produces molecules called exopolysaccharides. These are used in anti-aging formulations thanks to their ability to ✨stimulate collagen synthesis✨.

🧬 Despite the harshness, the desert is home to dozens of plant species and microbes that have developed remarkable genetic adaptations to withstand its extreme conditions. Many even live in collaboration, optimizing the uptake of water and nutrients —shaping the amazing landscape we see today.

♠️However, it harbors ancient groundwater reserves accumulated over thousands of years, and the fog formed along the coast provides a vital reservoir of humidity, which allows species such as the plant Tillandsia landbeckii to survive.

🌧️🚫Besides that, rainfall is almost absent, due in part to cold ocean currents that prevent cloud formation and to the Andes Mountain range, which blocks incoming humidity from the east.

♠ But Atacama has a hidden ace up its sleeve ♠. And thanks to that it can boast of being home to certain species 👇

☢️️ It is undeniable that this desert presents extreme conditions where life would seem impossible: aridity, lack of water and nutrients, extreme salinity, and intense solar radiation.