This Cryo-SEM image is of a hot-spring microbial mat from Orakei Korako, New Zealand. It shows a microbe in the initial stages of silicification surrounded by sugars, exopolymeric substances, and opal-A silica spheres. PSI research scientist Randall Perry works on extreme environments such as hot-spring deposits, desert rock coatings, and deep-sea vents, looking for clues to the chemical origins of life. He also works with an Oxford University research group investigating Earth's oldest evidence of life in the Warrawoona, Australia. The image was taken by Bridget Lynne of University of Auckland, NZ, who together with Randall Perry investigates worldwide hot-spring deposits.