In the toxic waters of Sulphur Cave in Steamboat Springs, Colo. live blood-red worm blobs that have attracted international scientific interest. We don special breathing gear and go into the cave with a team of researchers. There, we collect worms and marvel at the unique crystals and cave formations that earned Sulphur Cave a designation as a National Natural Landmark in 2021. Then we learn how extremophiles like these worms are helping scientists search for new antibiotics, medicines and even models for robots that can explore uneven, dangerous terrain, like caves on other planets.Read more about these worms: https://n.pr/3LjbigOWe love hearing what science you're digging lately! Drop us a line at shortwave@npr.org.
The Ute people of the Yampa Valley believed local mineral springs were sacred waters. The first white settlers, the Crawford family, were drawn to this area in part for the 150 mineral springs, which later.
In the toxic waters of Sulphur Cave in Steamboat Springs, Colo. lives blood-red worm blobs that have attracted scientific interest from around the world. We don special breathing gear and go into the cave with David Steinmann, the spelunking scientist who first documented the worms, along with a trio of science students from Georgia Tech, to collect worms and marvel at the unique crystals and cave formations (ever heard of snottites??) that earned Sulphur Cave a designation as a National Natural Landmark in 2021. Then we learn about how extremophiles like these worms are helping scientists search for new antibiotics, medicines, or in the case of the Georgia Tech team, models for worm blob robots that can explore uneven, dangerous terrain, like caves on other planets.
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