Drill reaches Antarctica's under-ice Lake Whillans

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

28 January 2013 Last updated at 11:12 GMT

Drill reaches Antarctica's under-ice Lake Whillans

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent

An American attempt to bore down into Lake Whillans, a body of water buried almost 1km under the Antarctic ice, has achieved its aim.

Scientists reported on Sunday that sensors on their drill system had noted a change in pressure, indicating contact had been made with the lake.

A camera was then sent down to verify the breakthrough.

The Whillans project is one of a number of such ventures trying to investigate Antarctica's buried lakes.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21231380

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1. Antarctica's buried lakes are the most potent opportunity for us to view

aquatic life and DNA on Earth from hundreds or perhaps thousands of centuries ago, (millions of years ago, at least).

A study of DNA structures in aquatic micro-organisms which have modern living parallels could bring advances in DNA technology, not to mention possible other areas of insights into archeological research, biomedical implicatons, and ways to discover or view previous forms of long-dead former life on Mars or other planets.

This is like striking the mother-lode in DNA archeology.

[Silentnomore]

2. How do they..

drill into these areas without introducing bacteria and pollutants?

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3. Ultraviolet light and hot water

http://news.discovery.com/earth/antarctic-drilling-reaches-lake-whillans-130128.htm