The Place Hotter Than Death Valley & Other Extreme Locations

When you think of an extreme climate, Death Valley might come to mind. But with acidic puddles, lava lakes, and one of the most important early hominid discoveries, the Danakil Depression is an even more shocking spot that will leave your mind spinning! Join Hank Green for this fascinating new episode of SciShow.
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[@ganonk79]

Hey, I was there! Drove through a sandstorm, watched the car’s thermometer climb to 45C, hiked 3 hours across lava rocks, all so that I could stand for an hour at the edge of Erta Ale, which has the world’s longest active lava lake. Awesome experience!

[@shawnhall1893]

You did more than most and I commend you. Your living your best life while I watch from the bleachers. Cudos

[@waterunderthebridge7950]

All they ever ask is “How hot is the Danakil Depression?” when the things they should ask is “How is the Danakil Depression doing?”

[@MrJay_White]

its toxic af

[@jefferywesthoff2702]

Danakil

[@hosmerhomeboy]

toxic, the danakil depression is toxic.

[@antiisocial]

@John I was going to say something like that! Lol

[@Xanderqwerty123]

No wonder danakil is depressed

[@Sciencerely]

As mentioned in the video, we can find some of the most fascinating microorganisms in extreme environments such as the Danakil depression. Since extremophiles have adapted to these extreme conditions, they have unique features which are very important in biotechnology. To give you an example, heat-stable enzymes have been isolated from extremophiles and are now routinely used in PCRs (for which the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1993 was awarded - would love to make a video about that myself). It will be interesting to see what else we can discover in these extreme environments!

[@alexanderofrhodes9622]

I just learned about Taq! Very useful microfriend indeed

[@K9River]

I just discovered that places like the Danakil Depression have a higher than average population of serial killers and animal shelters.

[@NickRoman]

And what is going to happen to the existing life as the place fills up and becomes an ocean? Maybe some day, there will be hot vents at the bottom of an ocean there as it is a depression caused by magma rising; so, also volcanic.

[@Tempst]

I remember they use the Rna polymerase called Taq polymerase which is extracted from the extremophile Thermus aquaticus.

[@nickmonks9563]

It's interesting that we can find life having evolved to deal with such extreme places. At this point, due in part to our limited access to other worlds, it seems that we are still alone as a planet in being inhabited by life. Given the ability of life to find so many niches despite apparently inhospitable circumstances, the big question seems to be, "what kickstarts life"?

[@avarand9601]

My aunt is an anthropologist and Lucy was in my childhood stories she would tell me about her and how they knew it was a her and what she would’ve done I loved it

[@teambeining]

V cool. You should share through a children’s book, from your POV.

[@walkingtheworld4859]

The craziest thing is about 5 miles up the road there is a village where locals live and have lived for a very long time without air con or electricity living a fairly normal life. That blew my mind just as much as the depression

[@w3ss3x]

i hope you have overcome your depression now

[@MrAwawe]

That's some prime evil lair real estate.

[@davidmowbray4230]

Primeval

[@faroshscale]

Fright Zone

[@dynamicworlds1]

I mean, it does bare some underlying similarities to the Elephant Graveyard from The Lion King which served as the backdrop for one of the best villian songs of all time. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpy4Y2aja96LZpY

[@marcddavis94]

@@davidmowbray4230 (Prime) (evil lair) real estate

[@brettelliott4116]

Trump tower coming soon

[@DoingHawaii]

We used to have a lava lake here in Hawaii. However it drained and vanished at the start of the 2018 Kilauea eruption. Now we have a crater water lake that has formed in its place. Earth is so cool!!

[@glenngriffon8032]

Polyextremeophiles: because life always finds a way.

[@antiisocial]

"If there's one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories, and crashes through barriers painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh, well, there it is. ..." ~ Ian Malcolm 1993

[@glenngriffon8032]

@@antiisocialIt's common to quote Malcolm but he was right. Life is very hardy and it will not go out without a fight. A more apt quote would probably be Life finds a way because life must find a way or die. But that's not as snappy.

[@antiisocial]

@@glenngriffon8032 Of course it must! If it didn't, it wouldn't last long. Lol. 👍

[@antiisocial]

@@glenngriffon8032 I also just realized that one day far in the future, someone is going to read all these quote memes and wonder who all these people were! 😂 Edit: And wonder why are some of them so stupid! 😂😂

[@coweatsman]

The compromise is a single cell existence. Simple does extremes better. Complexity has too many necessary contingencies.

[@K9River]

Death Valley: I am the hottest place on Earth! Danakil Depression: Hold my bottle of boiling acid. Death Valley: uhhh...

[@marciaosullivan3200]

Very funny

[@richardbidinger2577]

And deadly corrosive air.

[@T3sl4]

"You salty bro?"

[@RedGuardian787]

Phoenix: Ha ha ha.

[@Christopher-N]

Atacama Desert: I am the driest place on Earth. Your acid baths will only last as long as you keep the Red Sea out. Doesn't that just depress you?

[@AaronGirmay]

Ethiopia 🇪🇹 Most of us have never been there, I went there once in 2016. The rest of Ethiopia is like 20-25 degrees Celsius the rest of the year.

[@LimeyLassen]

Simba: Hey dad what's the shadowy spot over there Mufasa: Oh that's just where we keep the boiling acid

[@LimeyLassen]

@A's notes Lol dude I'm talking about the cartoon character

[@StanArctic]

I'm a depression, though not even close to hot.

[@iamzid]

that's cold.

[@nicofrancis6065]

That just means you're cool

[@uniqhnd23]

This got a good laugh out of me

[@legacyconsolegod9261]

Lol

[@maly_dinosaurik]

How people call those microorganisms living in boiling salty acid: *extremophiles* How they call us: *weaklings*

[@andrewfoust3227]

Most extremophiles will die in the conditions we thrive in, and vice versa.

[@FragmentJack]

I read the title as “Dank Depression”. Would’ve been lit 🔥🔥🔥

[@mauz791]

Yuuhhhh 🔥🔥🔥

[@morganrobinson8042]

You're not wrong.

[@vinceporcare9599]

Billy Masterson okay billy

[@FitzgeraldStanburyWeissV]

That's nice. Cool story bro.

[@johnopalko5223]

"... what with the ultra-hot days, and the throat-corroding air, and the pools of boiling acid." But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

[@8pelagic610]

Clever pun on acid from the scientists that named Lucy in the Danakil with Depression.

[@carissstewart3211]

"Probably only kicked into high gear about a century ago." 🤯

[@fig1]

What a cool place to observe the effects of plate tectonics!

[@absalomdraconis]

Danakil depression: where rivers go to die.

[@johnopalko5223]

When Hank mentioned the Red Sea flooding the Danakil Depression, I started singing "The Coming of the Great Nebraska Sea," which is a wonderful filk song by Blake Hodgetts, based on the 1963 short story by Allan Danzig.

[@vladekvik2228]

This is so wild, I was wondering the other day when y'all would make a video about the Danakil Depression. What an incredible place and this video is exactly what my system needed. So satisfying.

[@BeenSauce]

Literally hell on Earth?

[@friedchickenUSA]

are demons just eukaryote extremophiles

[@renasance2]

Ever been to Los Angeles?

[@tjorvenblader]

@@friedchickenUSA someone learned a new word today 😂

[@keterclass3541]

Well its in Africa

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

No. That's Texas.

[@itsjustlukeRevive]

I have depression Well, I have Danakil Depression; literally boiling here...

[@socrabe]

I had a similar thought. :(

[@OHMYGODDOG]

*A new study from French and Spanish scientists focuses on a place on Earth where liquid water is abundant, but life is absent. The area is called Dallol, and it’s a geothermal field in Ethiopia. It features hot, acidic, hypersaline ponds. The new study is published in Nature and is titled “Hyperdiverse archaea near life limits at the polyextreme geothermal Dallol area.”*

[@UsenameTakenWasTaken]

"And that's OK. Scientists can handle uncertainty. It comes with the job." A delightfully subtle jab at evolution denial. Perfection.

[@marciaosullivan3200]

Very unsubtle

[@papa_pt]

uhhhhhhhhhhh nope that's the scientific method. Most theorems are currently just the next best thing to have come along. Newton->Einstein->Bohr. Given observations and the evidence, what is most likely? Good scientists don't deal with absolutes It's a jab at anything nonsensical, why would it imply evolution denial specifically?

[@fiberpoet6250]

UsenameTakenWasTaken I loved it!!

[@nuck-]

Austin Theists are among the most delusional and cling onto fallacy’s because of their fear of the unknown, I think he really was a jab at them specifically to be honest.

[@thegangvault2]

@@nuck- Perhaps it would be interesting for you to know that Lucy has an ape brain capacity, ape fingers, wrists, collar bones and ear canals (for balance), and though found without any feet, was drawn with human feet. There are reasons some evolutionists are highly skeptical that she is anything but an ape.

[@leelulady2010]

I saw Lucy when she visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science!

[@YCCCm7]

Earth: "Haha, hope you don't mind my embarrassing spots. Just ignore them." Life: "Yeah but what if I just-" Earth: "Wait! What?" Life: *Laughs in extremophile*

[@mosindesire]

Needed more footage of the actual area.

[@jaimeluisi1807]

So what you're telling me is that we have found the literal hell on earth.

[@m3d1ated42]

No hell is in michigan. (Its a town)

[@zhongxina9420]

@@m3d1ated42 no it's a small town in norway

[@CheetoStix14us]

@@m3d1ated42 no where near Libya which records 142 degrees and locals barely have any water soooooo

[@ryomaanime4563]

@@CheetoStix14us over 150 degrees were recorded in texan prison, what about that kind of hell

[@BenjaminCronce]

Anyone else feel sorry for those polyextremophiles for when the sea fills it in?

[@inhumanfilth681]

Nooooope, i doubt a bit of salty watter will kill what none of that other crazy stuff would

[@limiv5272]

@@inhumanfilth681 It actually very likely will. Those organisms underwent many substantial changes in order to become adapted to that environment. If the sea suddenly rushes in the environment will change very suddenly into something those organisms aren't adapted to and they'll die

[@inhumanfilth681]

@@limiv5272 very fair point

[@its.cassie]

Depends how quickly that process will occur

[@JD-fb8xl]

Assuming that they actually care about a little thing like huge amounts of saltwater, crushing pressure, and ecosystem collapse.

[@internetcookie2064]

genuinely thought the thumbnail said the dank depression...

[@guillaumegallen.8286]

Internet Cookie Check this weird science channel : kzbin.info/www/bejne/np7cqJppZcibf5o

[@triatomicend]

@@guillaumegallen.8286 NO

[@theshuman100]

bring back the roaring 20s...now with dank depression

[@annonimooseq1246]

theshuman100 the screaming 20’s

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

@@theshuman100 The 20's are soon upon us again.

[@Beryllahawk]

So...since Lucy lived there, the whole place has kind of gone to hell? Or at least everything's gotten all depressed.

[@w8stral]

Ah yes, the Lucy fraud. No skull... part of a jaw... yet its a humanid.... and not just a short human, but she did live there

[@thecynic75]

@@w8stral A quick google search reveals they have about 40% of the skeleton.

[@w8stral]

@@thecynic75 And the most important parts(the head) = 1% if that as there are no connecting bones.

[@tkn9675]

Welcome to the amazing Ethiopia. The land of origins. The land of extremes. Spectacular landscape, Historical sites, Food, Coulture with beautiful people! Come and visit.

[@Johncornwell103]

So this literally hell on earth.

[@sdfkjgh]

2:47 Hey! I have that exact same insulation in my house's crawlspace, same piss yellow colors and errthing!

[@angryspoidah9607]

Don't breathe it in.

[@lodewykk]

I don't feel like I learned much here. - What's the regions temperature range? - How does that compare to others? - How deep is the depression? - Volcanoes? No video shown :( Less face-time more vidoe time

[@darlinghopelessromantic]

Where I live doesn’t even have “seasons” I mean, it’s just hot cold hot cold cold hot warm cold hot ALL YEAR (yes, even in winter)

[@Flornmonk]

lucky you

[@slappy8941]

Ten point deduction for misuse of quotation marks, and five points for leaving off the period. I'm afraid you won't make it to the next round, but thanks for playing.

[@darlinghopelessromantic]

Slappy haha 😂

[@declaringpond2276]

South cali?

[@Quasar2456]

Sounds interesting, where do you live?

[@MaxArceus]

"When they found her, she was the _oldest_ .. Anarchy server in minecr- "humanoid ever found" oh.

[@noahpage7459]

~Days after Death Valley set the record for the highest reliably measured temperature anywhere on earth~ *Death Valley would like a word*

[@deadlyshotta2893]

New studies about plate tectonics suggest when the crust formed the difference between intense heat from the core and cool crust temperatures caused the planet to expand slightly (1km) causing cracks to form. Like when you try to boil a cracked egg.

[@fancyflautist]

I keep reading the thumbnail as "the dank depression"

[@robertgotschall1246]

Spent some time in Eritrea at the Red Sea port of Massawa. Great sea life but it was hot there and I've spent most of my life just outside of Death Valley. That was the only place that I would sweat while swimming in open water. Missed getting to the Danakil because of the war though.

[@purplepanda5773]

Hank for President!

[@geez6469]

2:57 I guess that’s where the badlands biome in Minecraft came from🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

[@kylewallace9341]

This is going to be a great reference for the humans are space orcs

[@jameslewis1605]

When the Red Sea breaks into the depression, it will be truly catastrophic.

[@JohnSmith-td7hd]

That place looks just like an area in the video game Skyrim, though in Skyrim, it's just pretty. No boiling acid.

[@amanuelyemane7083]

Cute watching scishow talking about a place I've visited!

[@jackaguirre8576]

"Home to all of the extremes" --except the cold...

[@KitsuneCentral]

This place is like a piece of IO on Earth. Freaking cool.

[@LucasDarkGiygas]

Thanks for the video

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Still not as hot as a hot pocket

[@MrAwawe]

I mean, that's literally true. A hot pocket directly out of the microwave will be far hotter than 34°

[@leaillex]

I'm hotter than 34 lol

[@Madashell1200]

I wish it had more pics of the landscape but pretty good.

[@colbymarsh2074]

Lucy was named after some potheads haha I love this

[@RybackTV]

That's a weird place for sure.

[@liquidminds]

Danakil Depression Polyextremophiles: "Don't leave the valley, out there is a weird place"

[@jornalbert135]

Hi, according to Wikipedia the Danakil Depression is not on the map shown at 0:47. The Danakil Depression is located on the northern part of the Afar Triangle (Afar Depression) at the border to Eritrea.

[@reidy1012]

Extremophile's are the perfect example as too why the "goldilock's zone" isn't a golden rule for extra-terrestrial life to develop. "Life will find a way."

[@thesneakymemedealer5071]

just give it some time and the bare minimum to survive and it will.

[@reidy1012]

@@thesneakymemedealer5071 Bare minimum is entirely relative to the planet and the ability for amino acids to form but perhaps that's too Earthy of me assuming amino acids are needed. Maybe that's just specifically what happened here and somewhere else it truly is Alien to what we think as life. 😂

[@its.cassie]

Yup! Always chapped my chops when the scientists insisted for a planet to have life, it must have water and oxygen. Since when?! We have micro-organisms living in sulphur near 800F vents on the ocean floor. We havent got a clue.

[@The_Viscount]

Sounds like a good place to test space suits for exoplanet exploration...some day.

[@TheTwick]

Yes, but do they have an Airbnb?

[@svennoren9047]

Nah, at best you get chlorinebnb...

[@jordaneggerman4734]

I always thought "Lucy" was an adaptation of the "Last Universal Common Ancestor" acronym, what with "Australopithecus afarensis" meaning "Great ape from afar (or the distant past)"

[@its.cassie]

Many new species have been found since, so she lost that title

[@jordaneggerman4734]

@@its.cassie my point was that I thought that was the origin of the name. A. afarensis is, by far, one of the oldest true ancestors of h. sapiens sapiens, just so you know...

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

Please make a video on how this environ “kicked into high gear” about a century ago.

[@Weirdoid]

Awesome place I never heard of until today. A bit south of their is a few other unusual bits of geography. Lakes of uniquely evolving cichlids, volcanos black liquid lava, etc.

[@audreydeatherage2131]

what are the names of the lakes and/or cichlids??

[@audreydeatherage2131]

id love to look into that more

[@michaelsotomayor5001]

That's awesome :) thank you

[@Weirdoid]

Awesome place I never heard of until today. A bit south of their is a few other unusual bits of geography.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

been too long since you had a new weird places video scishow! do more!

[@vibecheck663]

The Danakil depression ain't got nothin on my actual depression

[@sirtnfol8476]

Ill show you pleasure and PAIN.

[@vibecheck663]

Josh B Eh crippling enough

[@pappymcmcmc]

Love love love this.

[@gabrielsilveira8246]

Maybe all this beautiful extremes aren't just from chaos. Maybe they are designed this way

[@dunmermage]

"It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume."

[@jamiehughes5573]

Lakes of boiling acid, clouds of corrosive gas and scorching rock

[@zacrintoul]

Just don't tell me there is a giant evil spider living in a nearby mountain range.

[@Toomuchbullshitt]

And a lava lake. Hank also forgot to mention that the Danakil Desert is located within the tropics close to the Red Sea (average water surface temperature 86 F), which adds to the constant year round oppressive hot temperatures and high humidity despite low rainfall over there.

[@bellasgonemissing9705]

how did I not know about this? it sounds like something that should be on a different planet

[@chrisboucher1987]

Whoa, just whoa.

[@rmar127]

An interesting point about all those earthquakes in the region is that geologist believe that a quake in just the right spot at just the right magnitude could open a channel to the Red Sea. The sudden influx of water could destroy thousands of square kilometres of Eritrea and result in Ethiopia 🇪🇹 having an inland coast.

[@bircruz555]

And Ethiopia gets the finest harbor in the continent!

[@rmar127]

@@bircruz555 it’d definitely be a nicely protected anchorage, that’s for sure.

[@fanofgleeandTHG]

“So famous, I bet you know her name” *jumping up and down, excited* “OMG LUCY”

[@noelhutchins7366]

Ist assuming the difference between hot places below sea level is atmosphere overhead; the real climate of thickening atmosphere can be related from places lower than sea level: greenhouse effect isn't just the concentrations of gases, but the lens thickness of the overall amount of gases. A thicker lense a more dramatic concentration in sunlight heat. thats all.

[@cornlips7247]

Thanks brilliant! I am both being extremely flattering and thanking the sponsor.

[@sarephbtmistari8909]

I love science

[@ralphfrasier2079]

Death Valley Furnace Creek hit 130 degrees about a week ago! It Made the national news........

[@tacticalultimatum]

*David Attenborough voice* “Even here, life prevails”

[@sleepymari1275]

Cool episode!

[@domomitsune5920]

I want to go there to check out those acid pools. I could thing of a few things I'd like to try out with that acid, nothing illegal or mafarious.

[@Leftylobber]

Death Valley just set a world record at 130F this week (Aug 2020)

[@pattheplanter]

You missed out on describing the incredibly weird blue flames of burning liquid sulphur from the Dallol volcano.

[@richardbidinger2577]

I've seen pictures of that. Smells like rotten eggs, but cool af.

[@ZobmieRules]

I love the Danakil Depression.

[@WendingWayfarer]

Mantle plumes are terrifying.

[@yeeturmcbeetur8197]

It’s 6am and I want to sleep but my brain wants to watch sci show. Help.

[@ResortDog]

I imagine with the proper magnetism applied or nullified; the tectonic plates can surf around pretty fast if the next layer down liquidizes a bit more.

[@aditisharma200]

we reach upto 47 °C and even above in summers here in Rajasthan

[@flashgordon3715]

Death valley temperature drops below freezing quite often

[@mrsteezyoctopus3767]

I saw Lucy once, museum in Denver co

[@johnmelendez4551]

ONLY 34°C? Bro, that’s 4th of July in Charleston, SC.

[@NoWay1969]

People don't realize that the Earth has no obligation to provide a habitable environment for human beings.

[@rqzzlldqzzls]

Hank on journey to the microcosmos : *_soft and gentle_* Hank here : THANKS TO BRILLIA

[@mrjaz666]

Dank Danakil :D

[@alixhameon3529]

Heck I wanna be there when the sea starts rushing in, thats gonna be epic!

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Life always finds a way.

[@MikhailT]

Why is there no closed captions on this video?

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

So will it be called the Danakil sea?

[@autumnkeys]

3:54 hank sounds like the scientist from the simpsons

[@deemueller6470]

I had to look it up it's Frank azaria. But hank green does do other videos ( singing)

[@mimisezlol]

are the pools of water in Danakil acidic enough to dissolve people like that one hot spring in Yellowstone?

[@KafshakTashtak]

FYI, Kavir Loot desert in Iran has a higher record than death valley. DNews (currently Seeker) has a video on it.

[@KudosMSGP]

That’s surface temperature not atmospheric temperature. Plus DV has a higher surface temperature anyways