Russian Team Prepares To Penetrate Lake Vostok

Lanxon writes "Lake Vostok, which has been sealed off from the world for 14 million years, is about to be penetrated by a Russian drill bit. The lake, which lies four kilometers below the icy surface of Antarctica, is unique in that it's been completely isolated from the other 150 subglacial lakes on the continent for such a long time. It's also oligotropic, meaning that it's supersaturated with oxygen — levels of the element are 50 times higher than those found in most typical freshwater lakes."

Comments

Re:Look Up

[mswhippingboy]

If intelligence basically means thriving & succeeding in *your environment*, then yes, she is more intelligent than most people.

By that definition of intelligence, the fungus growing around the waste water pond is intelligent. No, I think intelligence has a more formal definition than that:

1. capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.
2. manifestation of a high mental capacity: He writes with intelligence and wit.
3. the faculty of understanding.

Fungus is not intelligent, ergo neither is ("We must stand by our North Korean allies") Palin.

Good try though.