In a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, a microbe does something that life shouldn’t be able to do: It breathes oxygen and sulfur at the same time.The story <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-cells-that-breathe-two-ways-20250723/">The Cells That Breathe Two Ways</a> first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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 &lt;p&gt;In a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, a microbe does something that life shouldn’t be able to do: It breathes oxygen and sulfur at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The story &lt;a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-cells-that-breathe-two-ways-20250723/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Cells That Breathe Two Ways&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on Quanta Magazine.&lt;/p&gt;
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Deep in a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park resides a bacterium that does what life really shouldn’t be able to do: It breathes oxygen and sulfur at the same time.

In a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, a microbe does something that life shouldn’t be able to do: It breathes oxygen and sulfur at the same time.

The story <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-cells-that-breathe-two-ways-20250723/">The Cells That Breathe Two Ways</a> first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

The Quanta Podcast

Audio Edition: The Cells That Breathe Two Ways

Audio Edition: The Cells That Breathe Two Ways

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