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Antarctic Expedition To Track Down Extreme Living Creatures

WirePosted tips us to a story about a group of scientists who are heading to Antarctica to study organisms that thrive in climates too extreme for most other life forms. The team will be visiting a lake that has a pH "like strong Clorox," the sediments of which "produce more methane than any other natural body of water on our planet." The scientists hope to learn about the potential for life in other unforgiving climates, such as those on Mars or the various ice-covered moons in the Solar System. Expedition leader Richard Hoover was quoted saying, "This will help us decide where to search for life on other planets and how to recognize alien life if we actually find it." We've previously discussed Antarctic microbes as they related to conditions on Mars.

15 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Extreme living, eh? by the_humeister · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sounds even more fun than extreme ironing!

  2. Oh they'll find it by Nylathotep · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

    1. Re:Oh they'll find it by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Funny
      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    2. Re:Oh they'll find it by SurturZ · · Score: 2, Funny

      >Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

      I see the eyes have it.

      Or maybe the other way around.

  3. Mix 'em up! by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 3, Funny

    Add the Clorox to the methane producing dudes. Kill 'em off! Need to fix the gloabl warming.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  4. X-Treme Life Forms by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 4, Funny

    Spock: Captain, sensors indicate that this creature subsists on a diet of Slim Jims and Cheetos... Fascinating. It's blood is a substance you humans know as 'Mountain Dew'.

    Kirk: SPOCK! How. Can that... BE... possible?

    McCoy: If what you're describing is true, we've discovered the most extreme organism in the entire galaxy.

    Spock: Indeed, Doctor. Most intriguing.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  5. This is asking for trouble... by Fallen+Seraph4 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Has HP Lovecraft taught us nothing?!

  6. Re:A first step to terraformation as well? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    But, I've seen it on Star Trek. The TV doesn't lie.

  7. Re:I don't get it. by g0dsp33d · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... We are approaching the ring of deat[no carrier]...

    --
    lol: You see no door there!
  8. Dupe, or repeated trip by Mark_in_Brazil · · Score: 3, Funny

    I read about this already. Either this is a dupe or they're just repeating an expedition made years ago (1931 or something).

    Here's a description of the trip from one of the members of the expedition.

    Here's a Wikipedia entry on the expedition.

    --
    "It is nice to know that the computer understands the problem. But I would like to understand it too." --Eugene Wigner
  9. To the tune of "Jesus Loves me" by Xaositecte · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cthulhu hates me, this I know
    For the old ones told me so
    Human souls to him belong
    They are weak but he is Strong!

    Yah, Cthulhu Fh'tagn!
    Yah, Cthulhu Fh'tagn!
    Yah, Cthulhu Fh'tagn!

    The old ones told me so!

    1. Re:To the tune of "Jesus Loves me" by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sing this to the tune of Tiny Toon Adventures

      We're slimey, we're squishy, we're all a little fishy,
      and in this adventure we'll be feasting on your brains.
      We're abysmal creatures, with gross horrific features.
      In Cthuloid adventures, lose alot of sanity.
      So here's Miskatonic U. where all the creatures dwell,
      take a look at a mythos book and find yourself in hell.
      Your guns aren't defective, they just aren't real effective.
      Our feast of human flesh and souls is about to start.
      Your magic, and voodoo will not stop Great Cthulhu.
      Don't eat with the Tchoo Tchoo, and the Migo steal your brain!
      Here's Narly, Tsathoggua, over there's Cthugha,
      don't forget Ithaqua, and Hastur hates his name.
      So here's sunken R'lyeh where the angles are all wrong.
      You'll lose your soul, and go insane if you stay there too long.
      We're slimey, we're squishy, we're all a little fishy,
      Our feast of human flesh and souls is about to start.
      And now we'll eat your heart.

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  10. Re:extreme facist crusader zealots cracking planet by tm2b · · Score: 2, Funny

    You forgot to add, "Vote for Ron Paul"

    --
    "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
  11. Re:Producing Methane? by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Funny

    They've obviously never been to my toilet after I've had Mexican food and beer!

    Oh, they've tried ... it's just none of the expeditions sent to date ever returned.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  12. Re:A first step to terraformation as well? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hmm. If we're going to plan ahead, how about not making your great grandchildren so numerous that they need to terraform whole planets, eh? Sounds a lot easier, a lot more reliable, and a lot more aesthetically pleasing.

    I will never figure out the blind expansionism of the space-colonizer types...