Tube worms surviving an extreme environment is not the most interesting part of this tale. It's what they eat. Chemoautotrophs living at the edge of the vents are bacteria that can metabolise inorganic compounds such as sulfur, iron, or ammonia and produce ATP (sugar) which the tube worms consume. They can not only survive, they thrive in those environments. I have a feeling that chemoautotrophs or the plastic eating fungi will be the main long-term solutions to our plastic waste problem.