Classification of Archaea

The first thing I learned is that I chose a very confusing topic. Archaea classification is somewhat up in the air. A recent report of an international meeting (http://ezpolson.nmu.edu:5296/10.1016/j.resmic.2010.11.007)  it was pointed out again and again that Archaeans are more like Eukaryotes (multi-celled organisms) than they are like true bacteria. This is true in many aspects of cell function and structure/chemical makeup. Another thing I learned is that some researchers refer to groups of archeans as Phyla and others as Kingdoms.

Some of the ways Archeans differ from other bacteria are in the cell wall chemicals; DNA replication, transcription and translation; cell division; vesicle formation; and other aspects and in all these the Archaeans are very similar to Eukaryotes.

My thought: maybe bacteria are the aliens and Archeans and Eukaryotes were here first.

Archaea: I've got friends in LOW places

This is my first Archaea entry. The questions I want to know the answers to are:
1. What exactly makes them unique among living things?
2. What about the genetics - how many genes, how many are shared with other bacteria, how much variation, etc.
3. Morphology - physical characteristics
4. Respiration -how do they get their energy?
5. How do they survive such extreme environments?
6. What environments are they found in and are there vast differences between those from the different environments?
7. Did they come from outer space?
8. What do we NOT know about them?
9. What research is being done currently?