PBS Nova Interviews Professor Peter Girguis

Peter Girguis took viewers on a voyage to the limits of life in his recent PBS NOVA feature, “Extremophiles, the Deep Sea, and Alien Life.” In the interview, Girguis described his deep-sea expeditions aboard the submersible Alvin and the astonishing creatures thriving around hydrothermal vents — ecosystems powered not by sunlight, but by chemistry. These hardy microbes, he explained, may offer a blueprint for finding life beyond Earth, perhaps on Mars or the icy oceans of Europa. Girguis made a compelling case that studying Earth’s most extreme habitats may be the key to answering humanity’s oldest question: are we alone?