The Kansas Underground Salt Museum would be a curious site all on its own. Sixty five stories below the ground of Hutchinson, Kansas sits a massive salt mine with salt veins stretching from Kansas all the way to New Mexico. There is a underground salt museum and tram tour. There is, however, an even more unusual aspect to this site. Possibly the world's oldest organism was reanimated from the salty walls of this mine.

Found within the mine, within a pocket of salt water trapped in a 250 million-year-old salt crystal, two biologists and a geologist discovered the 2-9-3 virgibacillus bacteria. This would be unremarkable save for the fact that this bacteria was 100 million years older than the dinosaurs... and it was still alive.

Bacteria have the ability to go into a kind of semi-permanent hibernation, but to survive for this long was unheard of. After lying dormant in the salt crystal for 250 million years, the scientists added fresh nutrients and a new salt solution, and the ancient bacteria "re-animated."

Dr. Russell Vreeland one of the biologists who found the bacteria pointed out that bacteria can survive the the forces acceleration via rubble thrown off by a meteor impact. In a sort of reverse "exogenesis" Vreeland pointed out it is possible earth's own microbes are already on Mars.

"When man goes to the stars, our microbes will be waiting for us," Vreeland said.

Today at the Underground Salt Museum you can see the piece of salt crystal where the bacteria was found, as well as take the "Dark Ride," a tram tour of the mine. Though off limits to visitors the mine also stores government records and thousands of Hollywood films such as the master prints of Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz and has a small exhibit about what other secrets are stored in the museum. The mine also occasionally hosts a "Murder in the Mine" dinner theater.

We explored Salt Mines on Obscura Day - March 20th, 2010. Photos, stories and more here