Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dakota Midday: Black Hills Cave Lake Microbes May Help Fight Superbugs

University of Akron

The caves of the Black Hills are among the longest in the world, and new research shows they may also contain some of the purest water on earth.

The lakes in Wind Cave and the newly discovered bodies of water in Jewel Cave are a treasure trove for microbiologists who study the rare bacteria that have evolved in the untouched and dark underground water of the Madison Aquifer.

SDPB’s Charles Michael Ray sat down with Hazel Barton a leading cave microbiologist and her graduate student Olivia Hershey.  The two are in the Black Hills this week and their ongoing research on cave microbial life could help the fight against super bugs and lend insight to life on other planets. 

You can hear the full interview by clicking play below.

Related Content
  • Wind Cave is a window into the Madison Aquifer - it supplies water to half the state. Now, new research on the past water table fluctuations in Wind Cave…
  • News
    Explorers in the deepest sections of Jewel Cave landed a major new find on their most recent trip.Cavers mapped about 8,000 feet of new cave, pushing…
  • News
    Jewel Cave is now 180 miles long and it contains a second lake. On a four day exploration trip during the second week of November cavers pushed into the…