On Mar. 5, 2019, scientists at Washington State University described the first-ever successful in situ collection of a little-known species of bacteria that eats and breathes electricity. They successfully captured the enigmatic electricity-eating bacteria last August in the Heart Lake Geyser Basin area of Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in the Journal of Power Sources. These new findings showed just how resilient and adaptable some species of bacteria can be.