VIDEO: Climbing for the origins of life

Dr. Robin Kodner regularly goes to extremes in the name of science. That’s because the microscopic algae she studies live only on glaciers and snowfields high in the mountains. At 2 billion years old, these single-celled colonies predate plants, animals and even fungi. By observing these archaic creatures, Robin can learn how all life evolved in the very beginning — and how it might survive into the future.