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The first known organisms that live totally independently of the sun have been discovered deep in a South African gold mine.
The bacteria exist without the option of photosynthesis by using radioactive uranium to convert water molecules to useable energy. Similar life forms may exist on other planets, experts speculate.
The bacteria live in ancient water trapped in a crack in basalt rock, 3 to 4 kilometres down. Scientists from Princeton University in New Jersey, US, and colleagues analysed water from the fissure after it was penetrated by a narrow exploratory shaft in the Mponeng gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa. The shaft was then closed.
