psychrophilic
SY-kro-fil-ik
Definition
Thriving at or preferring low temperatures, specifically used here to describe cold-loving microorganisms.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Greek 'psychros' meaning 'cold' and 'philein' meaning 'to love.' It entered scientific English in the late 19th century to describe organisms that grow best in cold climates.
In the news
The article uses this term to explain that certain yeasts are thriving on the mummy's remains even in the cold conservation chamber, complicating efforts to keep the biological environment static.
In 1991, two hikers in the Ötztal Alps found a body sticking out of the melting ice and assumed it was a recent climber, but the corpse turned out to be a 5,300-year-old man with an arrowhead in his shoulder, 61 tattoos, and a 99.7%-pure copper axe whose met
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com