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Complex Life Found Under 600 Feet of Antarctic Ice
Chroniton writes "NASA ice scientists have found a shrimp-like creature and a possible jellyfish 'frolicking' beneath 600 feet of solid Antarctic ice, where only microbes were expected to live. The odds of finding two complex lifeforms after drilling only an 8-inch-wide hole suggests there may be much more. And if such life is possible beneath Earth's oceans, why not elsewhere, like Europa?"
60% of the Earth is filled with oceans. In some parts they go down as much as Mount Everest goes up. That means over half of our planet is still not searched. Some of the found fishes in there are really weird as well and look like aliens.
Imagine the land amount all those oceans would free if tried up.
A more likely explanation is that the samples were contaminated by the instruments. If we look in the Bible there is no mention that God made this lifeform, therefore the most logical explanation is contamination.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
I thought we were not allowed to explore Europa?
How does it taste?
And if such life is possible beneath Earth's oceans, why not elsewhere, like Europa?
Because Europa is not Antarctica. We get it. Life can live in ice-covered oceans and it can even be complex. This is all idle speculation until someone actually probes Europa to see what's under there.
The amphipod is actually a Lysianassid, not a Lyssianasid, if someone tries to google it :)
These creatures probably depend on free oxygen to live, which comes from plant life on the unglaciated parts of the Earth's surface. This is not an argument against the possibility of life on Europa, it is an argument against assuming that the environment under Europa's ice is as life-friendly that under Antarctica's.
Get out your torches, and somebody call Kurt Russell, quick!
I guess they want to refine their extreme environment exploration techniques locally before they try it out somewhere out there. Weren't techniques for the moon landings rehearsed in the highland deserts of Iceland? Perfectly reasonable in my opinion.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
We know that humans have traveled to the moon. Humans similar in biological content to the famous greek philosopher Plato. So, is it possible that Plato traveled to the Moon?
Plato was a smart guy, but he couldn't have landed on the moon. Landing on the moon required us to adapt well enough to a very hospitable environment before we could even reach the moon's harsh landscape. I think We might discover the same is true of life. Its more likely to develop in a very hospitable environment and then over time develop the skills necissiary to thrive in harsher climates. I do think we might be able to transplant our extreme lifeforms to other planets. In the same way a lunar rover would probably do okay on the surface of mars as well.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
>And if such life is possible beneath Earth's oceans, why not elsewhere, like Europa?
Because saying life can survive somewhere is different than saying it can evolve somewhere.
I object to that article, and to the next reply.
Yeah, we Europeans are living elsewhere but Earth. We feel more attached to our universe like that...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
Did you read the summary? Potentially a very similar environment as Europa. You don't just fly a probe to Europa and learn how to drill a hole on the fly, you practice and rehearse beforehand. Not really a difficult to understand concept...
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
An eight inch hole?
If we fly to other planets, our probes may need to be able to accommodate any size orifice.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I've looked - yes it's damn cold, but I didn't find any signs of complex life.
(Ps: You misspelt Europe)
Why is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration looking underneath Antartican Ice?
Are you seriously asking why NASA would be studying life in extreme hostile environments?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I understand that Nuclear submarines have been under the North polar ice cap many times, surely someone's sent one under the Southern ice sheets by now? Obviously the continent would get in the way of going too far under but even so.....
I wonder if the relevant governments would be willing to release confirmatory data.
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Clarke, like Asimov, was a scientist before he was a science fiction author. Hubbard was fraudulent huckster before he was a science fiction author/religious leader.
Why is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration looking underneath Antartican Ice?
They're looking for the second stargate. Duh.
This doesn't surprise me too much. The SCINI Project has been finding neat stuff for some time now, even while they were just testing their equipment.
Microbes have even been found living in the ice of the polar plateau (at constant temperatures around -50C).
And check out Anoxycalyx Joubini (Volcano Sponge), some specimens of which are thought to be 15,000 years old and still living. These are animals that make those Sequoia look like juveniles.
It's been hotter, most likely, but we can be pretty sure that it hasn't had the same energy inputs as the Earth. Heat from the initial formation, yes (though more rapidly dissipating than it did from the much more massive Earth). Sustained, fairly consistent sunlight for billions of years? Not so much.
Um, no....Lysianassidae is the correct term for the actual family of amphipods; lysianassid would be the correct term for a member of that family, kinda like how the name of our family is Hominidae but we are called hominids.
Great....we alerted one of his minions.
I wonder why people always talk about possible life on Europa although for layman like me Ganymede seems better candidate: It's big as a planet, less radiation than Europa, molten iron core, water ocean, magnetosphere. All the good stuff and less of the bad.