It turns out that unknown micro-organisms thrive in an extremely salty, cold and oxygen-free environment. And that bodes well for our search for aliens.

In the far north of Canada we find the so-called Lost Hammer Spring. It is an inhospitable place, located about 900 kilometers south of the North Pole. The water flowing to the surface through 600 meters of permafrost is extremely salty (with a salinity of 24 percent), very cold (the temperature is below freezing, i.e. around -5 degrees Celsius) and contains almost no oxygen (The content of the water in the Lost Hammer Spring is very unique. Most glacial lakes consist of fresh water. But the water in the Lost Hammer Spring is actually super salty. This salty water is also the reason that the water does not freeze, even if the temperatures are below freezing.