Discovered in 2011, the devil worm is perfect for anyone who loves deep conversations. When scientists noticed them on the floor of a gold mine in South Africa, they weren’t sure if the worms were there to begin with, or if the miners tracked them in. Fueled by curiosity, geomicrobiologist Tullis Onstott and company dug down, and were able to find devil worms thriving at depths of 2.2 miles, or 3.6 kilometers. Though the Halicephalobus mephisto, as they’re also known, were very small that far down — 0.5 millimeters long — they were still there and feasting on microbes, the only other things known to live at that depth. Scientists also found evidence that the worms had been there between 3,000 and 12,000 years, so clearly they didn’t just stumble into the wrong neighborhood.

When it’s a hot time in the ocean, there’s a good chance the Pompeii worm (that long blurry, brownish thing coming out of the hole in the video above) will be there. These four-inch-long worms attach themselves to hydrothermal vents, where they bask in 80 degree-Centigrade (176 Fahrenheit) heat and a melange of toxic, Earth-born chemicals. In addition, they can withstand deep-ocean pressures and live in total darkness. First discovered in the 1980s near the birthplace of evolutionary theory, the Galapagos Islands, Pompeii worms have only ever been found in the Pacific Ocean. In all that time, scientists have yet to discover just how the worms even survive in that extreme environment. What’s the holdup?

No, Pyrococcus furious (those darker dots in the above video) isn’t some obscure Harry Potter spell. It’s actually a micro-organic hyperthermophile found on Porto Levante, Vulcano Island, Italy. Not only can this one live in temperatures higher than 90 degrees Centigrade (194 Fahrenheit), it does its best work at water’s boiling point — 100 degrees Centigrade, or 212 Fahrenheit), doubling in population every 37 minutes at that optimum temperature.

Alongside NASA, scientists who hope that life can be found throughout the solar system and beyond have been using P. furiosus in some Dr. Moreau-style experiments, splicing their DNA with that of plants. Their hope is to create plants that can withstand things like “drought, cold, low air pressure” and so on. Let’s just hope they don’t accidentally create something that’ll rise up and kill us all.

The red flat bark beetle (say that five times fast) isn’t the only insect found in cold places, but it’s almost certainly the toughest. Scientists have found it can survive temperatures as cold as -150 degrees Centigrade (-238 Fahrenheit), well past the threshold where most other bugs would bite the Big One. While these beetles have thus far only been found as far north as there are balsam poplar trees in Alaska — well south of the Arctic Circle — they may be found farther north before too long. After all, thriving in such a close vicinity as Sarah Palin, so you know these bugs can handle anything.