[NonValueAdded]

(none thought to pose any threat or benefit to human health).

Based upon what??? bacteria suddenly exposed to a relatively limitless supply of energy? They could be voracious little things.

[phs3]

Makes me wonder if we should be drilling on asteroids and comets anytime soon.

[Tunehead54]

"Based upon what??? bacteria suddenly exposed to a relatively limitless supply of energy? They could be voracious little things. "

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I do wonder to what extent these deep drill samples are being treated carefully to avoid release into the "wild" in our environment.

If they can live in such harsh environments the surface world could be a bonanza for them and a disaster for us.

Just the bacteria on the drill casings will be freed to the surface by the billions and we're unlikely to have any resistance to these new critters. Where's my tin foil hat dammit!

[TalBlack]

Deep microbes are often very different from their surface cousins, with life cycles on near-geologic timescales, dining in some cases on nothing more than energy from rocks

Damn. Rocks.