article_snippet: Life has been discovered nearly a mile and half underground, raising hopes bacteria might be able to survive deep beneath the surface of other planets.
article_snippet: Researchers found the single-celled organisms living inside coal beds more than 8,000ft (2,440 metres) below the seabed off the coast of Japan.
article_snippet: It is the deepest life has yet been found beneath the ocean.
article_snippet: At those depths the spherical microbes have to survive huge pressures that would crush most organisms while having no access to light or oxygen often needed for life.
article_snippet: The findings have raised the prospect that life may still be clinging on deep underground on planets such as Mars, where there was once thought to be flowing water on the surface.
article_snippet: Dr Byrne said the findings suggest a way in which bacteria could survive in extreme environments deep under ground.
article_snippet: These are generally found on seabeds and river beds, using energy in its purest form to power the reactions inside These cells.