Missing scientists mystery deepens in frozen Antarctica

[Hum]

The world holds its breath, hoping for the best after six days of radio silence from Antarctica -- where a team of Russian scientists is racing the clock and the oncoming winter to dig to an alien lake far beneath the ice.

The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the surface of the icy continent. Lake Vostok hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.

The team?s last contact with colleagues in the unfrozen world was six long days ago, and scientists from around the globe are unsure of the fate of the mission -- and the scientists themselves -- as Antarctica?s killing winter draws near.

?When you?re outside, it?s extremely cold -- minus 30, minus 40,? microbiologist Dr. David A. Pearce told FoxNews.com. ?If you left your eyes open the fluid in them would start to freeze. Your nostrils would start to freeze. The moisture in your mouth would start to freeze,? he said.

Pearce heads a team from the British Antarctic Survey on a competing mission, set to plumb the depths of Lake Ellsworth, one of a string of more than 370 lakes beneath Antarctica that may soon see light for the first time since well before Fred Flintstone?s ancestors roamed the planet. But time is running out for the Russian scientists.

?They need to be out by the 6th of February,? Pearce said, when winter sets in and temperatures drop another 40 degrees centigrade. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -129 degrees Fahrenheit (-89.4 degrees Celsius).

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[mokthraka]

any word from them? its the 6th :( I hope they are okay.

[Vice]

My theory is whatever they uncovered came up the hole they drilled and killed them. Hollywood movie incoming in 3.. 2.. 1..

[ILikeTobacco]

My theory is whatever they uncovered came up the hole they drilled and killed them. Hollywood movie incoming in 3.. 2.. 1..

The Thing?

This was on BCC this morning so not sure I believe there is no contact.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16907998

[Crisp]

This reminds me of The Thing.

Edit:- Ninja'd.

[DocM]

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/02/russian-newswire-reports-ancient-antarctic-lake-drilling-success.html

Russian newswire reports ancient Antarctic lake drilling success

Quoting an unnamed source, a Russian newswire is claiming that scientists have successfully drilled into an Antarctic lake that has been sealed off from the world for some 15 million years.

RIA Novosti says the two-decade long project to reach Lake Vostok has finally had its literal breakthrough, crunching through the 3,750-metre thick ice to reach the lake.

?Yesterday, our scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,768 meters and reached the surface of the sub-glacial lake,? the source told RIA Novosti.

The team had been expected to finally reach the lake this year, but Nature has been unable to confirm this information with any of the drilling team.

Entertainingly, the newswire story also speculates that the work could shed light on rumours of Nazi Antarctic cloning experiments.

For more on the drilling project see ?Race against time for raiders of the lost lake?.

[ILikeTobacco]

This reminds me of The Thing.

Edit:- Ninja'd.

:shiftyninja:

http://blogs.nature....ng-success.html

Awww... we lost the cold war.... see what I did there?

[shakey]

I'm thinking it was the Thing as others say :p

[shockz]

The Borg. Oh wait the sphere won't crash for a few more decades.

[Detection]

Why would you put yourself through all that for something you can see by turning on the tap ?

Who cares if it is xx million years old, its still only water !

[c.grz]

Why would you put yourself through all that for something you can see by turning on the tap ?

Who cares if it is xx million years old, its still only water !

Secretly; they're searching for Jimmy Hoffa!

[Dick Montage]

Who cares if it is xx million years old, its still only water !

Can't tell if you're a comic genius or an idiot.

[Detection]

Can't tell if you're a comic genius or an idiot.

Well reading my post I don't see how you could come to either conclusion

But to give you peace of mind it was a humorous post, stating the obvious, I know there could be frozen giblets in there from the dinosaur age, but the way the OP was written it was as if they are hunting for water....

Jokes are not that funny when you have to tear them apart for bungalows

[Kelxin]

Actually, they were drilling in hopes of finding creatures that evolved a different direction, or species that we've never encountered before. Being under the ice, and closer to the core of the earth, there could be things still alive.

[DocM]

Another angle is that a body of water that far under the ice for millions of years simulates the environment possibly found on Europa, Enceladus and perhaps Ceres. This could provide insights as to what to look for there.

[Hum]

A mammoth ate them.

[remixedcat]

a big ice cat ate them....

[mudslag]

[ILikeTobacco]

Another angle is that a body of water that far under the ice for millions of years simulates the environment possibly found on Europa, Enceladus and perhaps Ceres. This could provide insights as to what to look for there.

If nothing is found on Europa, it would also give use a viable path for teraforming and introducing life.

[DocM]

Europa might be too cold for more than a small depot used to refuel spacecraft with water split into H2 and O2. Fuel depots like this make a ton of sense for deep space missions.

[ILikeTobacco]

Europa might be too cold for more than a small depot used to refuel spacecraft with water split into H2 and O2. Fuel depots like this make a ton of sense for deep space missions.

If there is liquid water under the ice, it means the conditions would be similar if not the same as to what is being drilled for. Gotta start small.