Science
Related: About this forumAntarctic 'lost world' to be explored
Final checks are under way in Antarctica before the launch of a daring attempt to investigate an ancient lake beneath the ice-sheet.
Lake Ellsworth lies below ice that is at least two miles (3.2km) thick.
Its pitch-black waters have remained isolated and unseen for up to half a million years.
This will be the first attempt to extract uncontaminated samples of water and sediment from a body of water so far below the surface.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20623774
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)Well - maybe there is a cure for cancer lurking about down there.
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)After the ice melts everything will be contaminated.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)The Russians had already reached Vostok some weeks back. It contained pure water only - no bacteria or other signs of life ever having been there.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)seriously doubtful.
A side note:
NASA clean rooms breed hardy bacteria
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070903/full/news070903-5.html
The ultra-clean facilities used to assemble NASA's spacecraft are inhabited by some hardy bacteria, which could be hitchhiking their way to space.
Samples from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center, show the variety of bacteria that make it into the spaceship assembly areas despite the clean rooms used to build the craft in. The team found an eclectic selection of bacteria, including some that thrive in harsh environments with no food, at high temperatures or pH, or in high levels of chlorine.
more at link...
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)then surely they would have found contaminants in the water. They didn't.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)or should that be not nyet.
tclambert
(11,087 posts)alfredo
(60,074 posts)Cobalt-60
(3,078 posts)A read through the reports of the Miskatonic Expedition is in order!
trailmonkee
(2,681 posts)They will be surrounded by enormous penguins.
xocet
(3,871 posts)"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"