Boiling!

December 13th, 2025| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northeastern California, about 175 miles north of Sacramento. Hot water is a major feature of the Park, that has hydrothermal areas featuring steam and volcanic gas vents, mud pots and boiling pools. One would have thought nothing could live in the insalubrious conditions of those vents, pots, and pools. But then, one would be wrong.

Living within the hot water, scientists (from Syracuse University, University of California at San Francisco, University of Geneva, and others) recently learned, is a single-celled organism that thrives in temperatures previously considered impossible for a creature of its kind to endure, according to new research published recently in BioRxIV, “A Geothermal Amoeba Sets a New Upper Temperature Limit for Eukaryotes.”

And it has been appropriately named Incendiamoeba cascadensis.

Said they:

We isolated a novel geothermal amoeba, Incendiamoeba cascadensis, that divides at 63°C (145.4°F), establishing a new record for the upper temperature limit across all eukaryotes. … Taken together, our findings challenge the current paradigm of temperature constraints on eukaryotic cells and reshape our understanding of where and how eukaryotic life can persist.”

(The ”eukaryote” part is important. These are organisms that have a membrane-bound nucleus in their cells—all plants, all animals, fungi, …. Because there other beings [“prokaryotes”] like the tardigrades that can survive in temperatures even as high as 235ºF!)

Beryl Rappaport, first author, and a microbiologist completing her Ph.D. at Syracuse University:

Eukaryotes can grow at higher temperatures than we thought was possible for them. And Lassen is seemingly one of the overlooked national parks in the western U.S. People think of Yellowstone for the hot springs, but Lassen has the largest geothermal lake in North America.”

She and her co-researchers identified the little beast in a tributary of Hot Springs Creek, a small trickle of water that sends little puffs of steam into the air next to a hiking trail. Researchers took samples from the creek back to a lab, where they activated the amoebas and incubated them at different temperatures. The hottest one was about 135ºF, the previous record-high temperature for an amoeba to sustain. But it thrived, and they continued to turn the temperature up …and up, … and up.

The newly discovered “fire amoeba” (= Incendi + amoeba) can replicate itself at about 145ºF. The upper limit was previously thought to be about 140 degrees Fahrenheit for such organisms.

Rappaport:

I like being impressed by what life is capable of.”

Built for hot water, it is!

Rappaport again:

Finding organisms that push perceived limits helps researchers better understand life on Earth—and perhaps on other planets. There’s no reason we couldn’t find something else growing at an even higher temperature somewhere else.”

That’s all well and good. I was impressed more with the resilience of this single-celled creature, that should be a lesson for us. And we can be, too, when life is boiling around us …

Says God:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.”
Isaiah 43:2

Yup, we, the children of God—we, too, can be Incendihumans! Because God is with us!

And the greatest manifestation of God-with-us? The incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son,
and she will call His name Immanuel [= El/God with us].”
Isaiah 7:14

Go forth with Immanuel, folks, protected from boiling water!

SOURCE: SFGate; BioRxiv