Microorganisms living in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile – one of the driest locations on Earth – have developed a unique method of extracting life-sustaining water from their environment. … "When they were put under stressed conditions, the microbes had no alternative but to extract water from the gypsum, inducing this phase transformation in the material,” said study author David Kisailus, University of California, Irvine professor, in a statement. Read More