Kelly is working with Michael W.W. Adams, a biochemistry professor at the University of Georgia who is an expert in microbes that live in places hotter than 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the boiling point of water.

FORBES: Out Of The Labs

"'Kicking ass' is acceptable vulgarity, " says Michael Adams, professor of English language at Indiana University-Bloomington and author of Slang: The People's Poetry.

BBC: Kentucky 'kicks ass': Taking pride in plain speaking

"No one has done anything like this before, " says Macquarie University pro-vice chancellor Professor Tony Adams.

CNN: 'Scholar Ship' ready to set sail