{"id":542153,"date":"2026-07-15T05:17:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/542153\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T05:17:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:17:27","slug":"its-alien-in-every-sense-of-the-word-in-sulphuric-caves-too-deadly-for-humans-living-snot-like-slime-drips-from-the-ceilings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/542153\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s alien in every sense of the word.\u201d In sulphuric caves too deadly for humans, living snot-like slime drips from the ceilings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cueva de Villa Luz \u2013 a cave system measuring around two kilometres long \u2013 lies beneath the southern Mexican state of Tabasco.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s filled with hydrogen sulphide gas, and in his documentary Wonders of the Solar System, physicist Brian Cox ventured in with a mask and gas detection system to film there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the cave is a death trap for us, that doesn\u2019t mean that nothing lives here,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, it\u2019s teeming with life.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, this extreme environment deep under the surface provides us with clues of how extraterrestrial life could survive in hostile (and otherworldly) environments.<\/p>\n

Cave-dwelling fish \u2013 cave mollies \u2013 are found in the shallower waters and appear pink. This is likely due to high amounts of haemoglobin<\/a> (the protein that transports oxygen around the body and gives blood its red colour) within them \u2013 and is an example of how life adapts to a low-oxygen environment.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s something even odder below.<\/p>\n

Snottites are a type of single-celled bacteria that hang from the walls and ceilings of caves. While they look like small stalactites, there\u2019s one difference: they have the consistency of snot.<\/p>\n

Acidic water drips from a snottite inside Mexico\u2019s Cueva de Villa Luz. Credit: BBC Natural History\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

These odd specimens metabolise hydrogen sulphide, react it with oxygen and produce sulphuric acid. And while it might look harmless, it actually has a pH level similar to battery acid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a strange organism,\u201d says Cox.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s alien in every sense of the word, except that it\u2019s present just below the surface of our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cueva de Villa Luz \u2013 a cave system measuring around two kilometres long \u2013 lies beneath the southern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[85,46,141],"class_list":["post-542153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}