Itoero Posted January 19, 2019 Posted January 19, 2019 Scientists drilling into a buried Antarctic lake 600 kilometres from the South Pole have found surprising signs of ancient life: the carcasses of tiny animals preserved under a kilometre of ice. The crustaceans and a tardigrade, or ‘water bear’ — all smaller than poppy seeds — were found in Subglacial Lake Mercer, a body of water that had lain undisturbed for thousands of years. Until now, humans had seen the lake only indirectly, through ice-penetrating radar and other remote-sensing techniques. But that changed on 26 December when researchers funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) succeeded in melting a narrow portal through the ice to the water below. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00106-z
Moontanman Posted January 20, 2019 Posted January 20, 2019 Makes me wonder if one a very cold planet could like evolve into large forms under very cold conditions..
StringJunky Posted January 20, 2019 Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) 56 minutes ago, Moontanman said: Makes me wonder if one a very cold planet could like evolve into large forms under very cold conditions.. I think they were there when there was no ice. Tardigrades normally inhabit moss. They can survive extreme conditions, even become dessicated. Edited January 20, 2019 by StringJunky
J.C.MacSwell Posted January 20, 2019 Posted January 20, 2019 Must admit when I saw the term "carcass" I was hoping for something a little bigger. 2
Itoero Posted January 21, 2019 Author Posted January 21, 2019 23 hours ago, StringJunky said: I think they were there when there was no ice. Tardigrades normally inhabit moss. They can survive extreme conditions, even become dessicated. Antarctica used to be green.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/17/antarctica-tropical-climate-co2-research
CharonY Posted January 21, 2019 Posted January 21, 2019 17 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said: Must admit when I saw the term "carcass" I was hoping for something a little bigger. It is an unusual use of the word, for sure.
StringJunky Posted January 21, 2019 Posted January 21, 2019 5 hours ago, CharonY said: It is an unusual use of the word, for sure. English is his second language.
CharonY Posted January 21, 2019 Posted January 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, StringJunky said: English is his second language. Well, I don't know the author of the article, but even if it was his second language, there is usually some level of editing. As such I assume it was deliberate. Edit: Or do you mean OP? The content is directly lifted from the article (probably easier to spot if quoted had been used). 1
StringJunky Posted January 21, 2019 Posted January 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, CharonY said: Well, I don't know the author of the article, but even if it was his second language, there is usually some level of editing. As such I assume it was deliberate. Edit: Or do you mean OP? The content is directly lifted from the article (probably easier to spot if quoted had been used). Oh right. OK.
CharonY Posted January 21, 2019 Posted January 21, 2019 I said "quoted" instead of "quotes", didn't I? Yeah, not my first language, either.
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