[quote]Russian scientists camped at the coldest place on Earth say they have recovered water samples from Lake Vostok, buried beneath more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) of Antarctic ice.
Cut off as it is from the surface, scientists think that the huge freshwater lake hasn't been touched for more than 14 million years. The chemistry of the isolated water could provide a glimpse into Earth's past and primitive forms of life on Earth. Expedition leaders hope the lake is home to cold-loving microbes adapted to life in the dark, icy depths, also cut off from the outside world for millennia.
The Russian team hit lake water ice on Jan. 10 at a depth of 11,174 feet (3,406 meters), according to a statement from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The drill contained "white bubbly ice," different from the opaque, porous glacial ice capping the lake, the statement said.
The expedition also retrieved Lake Vostok water during their last drilling season, in February 2012, but did not find native life. An analysis of the microbes in the sample they took matched contaminants from the drilling oil and lubricant used to drill the borehole, the team reported in October. That sample was from a depth of 12,366 feet (3,769 m).
Three countries sent scientists to drill into one of Antarctica's buried lakes during the southern summer. Though temperatures are mild compared with winter (the Russian station at Vostok recorded the lowest temperature on Earth in the winter of 1983, at minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 89.2 degrees Celsius), conditions remain challenging.
A British-led team called off their attempt to drill into buried Lake Ellsworth on Christmas Eve, when their hot-water drill hit a snag after boring almost 1,000 feet (300 m) through the ice.
On Sunday (Jan. 13), a U.S. team finished a brutal 628-mile (1,000 kilometers) trek from McMurdo Station on the coast to buried Lake Whillans, Nature News reported. The lake is more shallowly entombed than Vostok, with only 2,500 feet (762 m) of ice above its surface. Tractors pulled equipment, generators and 500,000 pounds of fuel to the drilling site, and the science team will fly in this week, according to the project's blog.
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[t]http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/JZ5nTL3m_R11BbG9QnzY0g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD05MDA7cT03OTt3PTEyMDA-/http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2013/01/14/RTR2XHAK-jpg_210042.jpg[/t]
I'm excited to hear what they find.
When can they expect to have their dogs eaten and fellow crew members morphed into man-eating blobs?
Oh man, if there's any life down there, it will be neat as help to see what it's like having lived in a frozen over lake untouched for [I]millions[/I] of years.
And look at that they're planting thermite charges
Part of me thinks this is extremely cool and many discoveries will be made; another part tells me to leave it alone so it'll sit for another bajillion years so we can see what it'll look like [I]then[/I]
Of course there will be life down there.
Of course like on the moon, mars and everywhere else it will be microscopic bacteria that only biologists will yank their chain to.
This is awesome, I hope there are some weird ass lifeforms down there.
[QUOTE=MIPS;39221849]Of course there will be life down there.
Of course like on the moon, mars and everywhere else it will be microscopic bacteria that only biologists will yank their chain to.[/QUOTE]
Except for the fact they didn't find any microbiological organisms on either the Moon or Mars, and if they had it would have been one of if not the biggest scientific discoveries in history.
[QUOTE=CanadianBill;39221768][img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dq2xlPqyGoU/TkH7_8_B8_I/AAAAAAAAAdw/NS8TPv4wevg/s1600/cthulhuFB1.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
More like
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/At_the_mountains_of_madness.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Persecution;39221625]I'm excited to hear what they find.[/QUOTE]
Water.
Really stale water.
It contains an airborne virus that nothing has an immunity to.
am I the only one that doesn't want to make a The Thing reference, in fear that something like that, a mutated virus of some sort might exist somewhere?
[IMG]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101119055336/thething/images/1/17/Castshot.jpg[/IMG]
Photograph of the researchers not long after reaching the lake.
[QUOTE=SatansSin;39221972]am I the only one that doesn't want to make a The Thing reference, in fear that something like that, a mutated virus of some sort might exist somewhere?[/QUOTE]
how would it survive?
[QUOTE=yawmwen;39222019]how would it survive?[/QUOTE]
In the new thing movie it took on the form of some sort of alien when they dug it up but it escaped from the ice block it was in and starting attacking the crew obviously
On a more serious note: What they find down there might well grant us an insight into how early life started out by a stretch. It will also provide a brief glimpse into how microbes, bacteria or other fun critters develop in such a long period of complete isolation. I imagine that if I was something living in the lake, though, I'd feel like someone being awoken from a deep slumber by the sudden appearance of a very, very bright light. That shit would sting.
excitement for this is just a tad less than finding extraterrestrial life
[QUOTE=Ermac20;39222037]In the new thing movie it took on the form of some sort of alien when they dug it up but it escaped from the ice block it was in and starting attacking the crew obviously[/QUOTE]
that sounds like an incredibly reasonable threat that can be expected in this particular situation.
Excellent, now they'll be able find the Ancient outpost and be able to use the drones to defend us from the Goa'uld.
14 million years man so much shit went down since then
[QUOTE=Sleepy Head;39222352]14 million years man so much shit went down since then[/QUOTE]
And we've only been around for maybe 2% of that time period. If anything is alive down there it's going to be amazing.
I was gonna say, why is everyone so worried about Cthulhu?
Just hit that sucker with a couple of Hellfire missiles and you're good :v:
What if they find a sea monster.
[QUOTE=Deadman;39222072]On a more serious note: What they find down there might well grant us an insight into how early life started out by a stretch. It will also provide a brief glimpse into how microbes, bacteria or other fun critters develop in such a long period of complete isolation. I imagine that if I was something living in the lake, though, I'd feel like someone being awoken from a deep slumber by the sudden appearance of a very, very bright light. That shit would sting.[/QUOTE]
If there's any macroscopic life down there it is extremely likely that it would've evolved without sight, as there'd be no point to that in such an environment.
Wasn't this the team that also disappeared shortly after they found it, and then Evangelion jokes were made?
[QUOTE=Zet;39222706]Wasn't this the team that also disappeared shortly after they found it, and then Evangelion jokes were made?[/QUOTE]
Second Impact jokes?
Id drink from it and become immortal.
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