Subglacial Lake Vostok cracked for a second time

[Baclava]

They've cracked it - again! A Russian team of ice explorers has broken through to a lake buried beneath nearly 4 kilometres of Antarctic ice. The lake has been isolated from the surface for 15 million years and could hold extreme forms of life never seen before, perhaps even offering clues as to what life on other planets might look like.

The second attempt reached the lake surface at 5.12 pm on 25 January. The team used the same borehole down to 3400 metres below the surface, after which the holes diverge. This time, the team says they proceeded with extreme caution and are confident that the new samples they retrieved are pristine lake water.



http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26907#.VN2co_1ATIU

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On to Europa!

[Warpy]

1. Well, Europa might be a tougher problem

since it appears there is enough pressure under its ice not only to deform it but also to open up fissures that spray water vapor 120 miles out into space. Any drill rig would have to be pretty firmly dug into the surface to prevent itself from being blown off once the ice crust is breached.

I fully expect the water under Antarctic ice to harbor at least a few extremophiles the same way the ocean floor all the way down to the bottom of the Marianas Trench is teeming with life.

I probably won't live to see the discovery of life we can recognize in other parts of the system but if it should happen sooner rather than later, I won't be a bit surprised.

[rpannier]

2. cool read

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. And thus was released the virus that wiped out all life on the planet.