The paper is in
http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/TOC/1998/ND98Part2.html
but the hotlink to the abstract gave an error message.
What look like archaic biota ranging upward in size from an improbably small 20 nanometres can tolerate 170 degrees Celsius and 2000 atmospheres pressure. They grow in extremely hostile environments such as a scanning microscope's vacuum (cue Dr Fred Hoyle), and most astounding of all they `appeared to move,' according to Uwins. `When I put the electron beam on them, they moved away, which is not a typical mineral reaction.'
The scale of these proto- or archaeo-biota is close to that reported of the remnants claimed in Martian meteorites. Although the nanobes are several times too small to contain the complex enzyme systems needed for life, preliminary DNA tests by UQ archeologist Tom Loy are positive, and he has begun sequencing under an Australian Research Council grant.
Implications that strike me at once range from some version of the Andromeda Strain (`They released the Germs from Hell, which will eat our surface world!') to the Great Filter (ditto, except that this happens on *every* inhabited world once it gets the technology to drill down 5 km) to an existence proof of the feasibility of nano-scale machines, and maybe a useful set of pre-evolved gadgets to tweak to build dedicated nanobots.
Interesting times, as ever.
Damien Broderick