For many researchers who study the creatures clustered around the vents, the most prominent mystery is their resilience—how, exactly, they manage to persist over time and across disasters. It is no small feat to build a life near an active volcano. It could erupt in an instant and raze a community or burn out slowly, taking its life-giving warmth with it. Researchers do not understand how species of yeti crabs have found safe havens around the world separated by hundreds of thousands of miles of water so cold it slows the human heart. Even setting aside the frigid temperatures, the distance
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