Scientists have discovered a place on Earth where nothing can live - not even microbial life.
No, it's not Hamilton - it's in fact a volcanic crater in Ethiopia full of salt and toxic gases.
"After analysing many more samples than in previous works, with adequate controls so as not to contaminate them and a well-calibrated methodology, we have verified that there's no microbial life in these salty, hot and hyperacid pools or in the adjacent magnesium-rich brine lakes," said Purificación López García, of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
The "infernal landscape", as her team described it in a new study, is located in the Dallol geothermal field in Ethiopia.
"It is one of the most torrid environments on Earth."
It's often hotter than 45C in the air, and the water is constantly boiling. Gases emanate from the pools, which are highly acidic.
Life has been found virtually everywhere else on Earth, with some 'extremophiles' thriving in conditions as inhospitable as hydrothermal vents, liquid asphalt and even the Dead Sea.
While the region does have a "type of primitive salt-loving microorganism", Dr López García said there's absolutely nothing in the pools.
"And all this despite the fact that microbial dispersion in this area, due to the wind and to human visitors, is intense."
In other words, absolutely anything that ends up in the pools ends up dead.
"Our study presents evidence that there are places on the Earth's surface, such as the Dallol pools, which are sterile even though they contain liquid water," said Dr López García.
"We would not expect to find life forms in similar environments on other planets, at least not based on a biochemistry similar to terrestrial biochemistry."
The research was published in journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
