We might never be safe from surprises, thanks to the immense biodiversity on the planet. Archaea have long been characterized as organisms of extreme environments, but new studies sponsored by the US National Science Foundation have revealed that vast amounts of Archaea populate the open sea. Researchers David Karl, Markus Karner and Edward DeLong are part of the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) project to study the north Pacific Ocean. Their findings describe high numbers of pelagic euryarchaeota and pelagic crenarchaeota in the ocean waters. Genomics, suggests DeLong, is the key to overcoming our ignorance of life on Earth. AV http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/01/pr0105.htm