'Moses’ cursed water': Scientists hunt for life's clue in sea that kills everything

Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh

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Death Pools

Lurking 4,000 feet deep, these ultra-salty brine pools kill anything that enters. Scientists call them “death traps,” but they might also hold clues to life’s origins.

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Red Sea Mystery

Near the biblical site of Moses’ exodus, scientists have uncovered toxic underwater pools. Could these ancient waters hold lost evidence of historical events—or something even more mysterious?

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Ancient Time Capsule

These pools, untouched for millennia, have perfectly preserved sediment layers. Hidden in their depths may be records of past tsunamis and disasters linked to the Red Sea’s ancient history.

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Life in Extremes

Despite the toxic conditions, microscopic life thrives in these waters. Could these resilient organisms mirror those that existed on early Earth—or even life on other planets?

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Alien Clues

These pools mimic the extreme conditions of distant planets. Scientists believe they could provide insight into how life might exist beyond Earth, just as they may have in ancient biblical times.

Unseen Ecosystem

Unlike other ocean floors, where creatures disturb the sediments, these pools remain frozen in time. They could hold evidence of environmental shifts from ancient eras to today.

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Extreme Earth

Ten times saltier than seawater and devoid of oxygen, these pools mirror the harshest conditions on early Earth. Studying them may reveal how life survived in the planet’s earliest oceans.

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NEOM Discovery

Dubbed the "NEOM Brine Pools," this new discovery expands the known locations of these deadly zones, rewriting what we know about the ocean’s most extreme environments.

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Lost World Beneath

These pools offer a rare glimpse into an untouched underwater world, preserving Earth’s geological history in ways never seen before—secrets hidden beneath the Red Sea’s surface.

Credit: Neom