Life Found in Inhospitable Waters
3/25/10
Yeah I don’t know what the fuck that is supposed to be either. Its from space, so it must be cool. Photo from NASA
After drilling through 600ft of frozen water in Antarctica, researchers discovered live animals practically frolicking in the water. The hole was drilled using a jet of warm water, creating a scalloped pattern. The hole was drilled to test new ice drilling technology for later excursions to ice shelves. However, when researchers had lowered a camera down the hole, a crustacean (now known as a Lyssianasid amphipod) and a jellyfish were spotted by the researchers.
“Everybody was just gaga over this amphipod,” says team leader Robert Bindschadler, a polar scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “He put on quite a show, swimming around and nestling up against the cable carrying the underwater camera.”
These two sightings have created a bit of discussion about where life can be found. Some believe it means that life could very likely be found in places like Europa (one of Jupiter's moons) which has miles-thick ice oceans.
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