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G_j

(40,367 posts)
Fri Feb 3, 2012, 12:54 PM Feb 2012

Fears held for Russian scientists exploring "alien" Antarctic lake, Vostok [View all]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/science/120203/alien-lake-vostok-russia-science-exploration-antarctica

Fears held for Russian scientists exploring "alien" Antarctic lake, Vostok

2/3/12

Russian scientists preparing to explore the "most alien lake on Earth," Lake Vostok, have reportedly not been in touch with American colleagues in over five days.

Vostok, buried over two miles — or 13,000 feet — beneath the great Antarctic ice sheet, is one of the world's largest lakes. However, it hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years, Fox News reported.

The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks to reach the isolated, subglacial water, part of a network of more than 200 subglacial lakes in Antarctica, according to the Washington Post.

Some of the lakes existed in warmer times, when the continent was connected to Australia.

According to the website io9.com:

Vostok is thought to harbor conditions similar to those of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, and the discovery of life in the lake's inky depths would significantly strengthen the prospect of discovering life on either of these icy bodies.

However, the lake is "characterized by extremes, as geothermal heat from the Earth's interior warms the lake's bottom keeping it in a liquid state.



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"Oh my God its full of stars." :) Johnson20 Feb 2012 #1
good G_j Feb 2012 #2
Here's what I wrote on the same topic in GD... Javaman Feb 2012 #8
There isn't a lot of time left to get in there to them sharp_stick Feb 2012 #3
I do too G_j Feb 2012 #4
Or some THING else . . . Watch the skies! leveymg Feb 2012 #5
Yikes...not much of a makeup job FailureToCommunicate Feb 2012 #18
lol librechik Feb 2012 #34
What could go wrong? Octafish Feb 2012 #6
Here it comes... eyewall Feb 2012 #7
The Thing! Roland99 Feb 2012 #9
One of John Carpenter's best movies bathroommonkey76 Feb 2012 #10
My first thought as well MountainLaurel Feb 2012 #16
The Elder Things. flying rabbit Feb 2012 #11
all of the above eyewall Feb 2012 #12
Cthulhu Fthagan! AnnieBW Feb 2012 #25
Tikeli Li! jpak Feb 2012 #27
Heh, that was my first thought. Hayabusa Feb 2012 #30
H. P. Lovecraft,... Ferretherder Feb 2012 #32
Hope they are alright...maybe they ran into these... Tikki Feb 2012 #13
I hope they are ok Vehl Feb 2012 #14
The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum Kermitt Gribble Feb 2012 #15
Balrog Hawkowl Feb 2012 #17
A demon of the ancient world. nt Selatius Feb 2012 #24
Update: Lochloosa Feb 2012 #19
snort tawadi Feb 2012 #20
Lake Vostok documentary here (does a good job of explaining technical problems) Canuckistanian Feb 2012 #21
All these lakes are yours......except Vostok thelordofhell Feb 2012 #22
Antarctic lake success 'uncertain' dipsydoodle Feb 2012 #23
Were they actually going to send someone down? HotRodTuna Feb 2012 #26
Daily radio contact is SOP for Antarctic research stations - and there is usually multiple means jpak Feb 2012 #28
This is the team that should be going to Europa. Baclava Feb 2012 #29
Either unable, unwilling or compelled not to. I hope they're ok. nt Poll_Blind Feb 2012 #31
I hope the Russian Scientists are ok. Uncle Joe Feb 2012 #33
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