Microorganisms seem to have a bad reputation a lot of the time. Many people think of them as causing infection and disease, except perhaps for those good ones that live inside us and help us digest food, among other things.

But the world of microorganisms is much more vast, varied and vital to the ongoing function of our planet than any of us can imagine. Microorganisms are involved in ecological processes like taking CO₂ out of the atmosphere or recycling waste materials and nutrients. Many microbial species are still undiscovered, but there’s one group in particular that scientists know comparatively little about: the archaea.

Read the full article at the Australian Academy of Science.