HOW DOES LIFE HAPPEN WHEN THERE'S BARELY ANY LIGHT?

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Life still exists in some of the coldest, darkest places on Earth, where there is barely any light. Some phytoplankton living in the Arctic are able to survive without becoming dormant even during periods of 24-hour darkness. These organisms have their photosynthetic machines up and running as soon as the barest amount of sunlight returns. It is still unclear how the microalgae stay alive out of dormancy. The ability may be shared by algae in other areas of the deep sea, which means that the zone of productive ocean may be deeper than previously thought.