NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: A mat of microbes the size of Greece has been discovered on the sea floor off the Pacific coast of South America, largely as a result of improved research techniques. Advances in measurement technology have made it possible to detect much greater quantities of microorganisms in the deep sea than once thought to be present : microbes previously believed to be present in quantities of 100,000 per liter have now been shown to exist in quantities of a billion per liter.