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Signs of Subsurface 'Alien' Life Found In Antarctica
astroengine writes: An airborne survey of a presumably dry Antarctic valley revealed a stunning and unexpected interconnected subsurface briny aquifer deep beneath the frozen tundra, a finding that not only has implications for understanding extreme habitats for life on Earth, but the potential for life elsewhere in the solar system, particularly Mars. The briny liquid — about twice as salty as seawater — was discovered about 200 miles underground in a region known as Taylor Valley. The aquifer is widespread, extending from the Ross Sea's McMurdo Sound more than 11 miles into the eastern part of valley. A second system was found connecting Taylor Glacier with the ice-cover Lake Bonney. But the survey, which covered 114 square miles, may have just uncovered the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Seriously - don't dig those things up...
You even might be able to find Congress' popularity down there....
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I remember this, and it ends with me being called an ugly bag of mostly water.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
far deeper in fact, than we've ever cored. That number must be wrong -- I'm guessing it should read 200m. It's in the original story, I know, but it just can't be right.
I think it was suppose to be 200 meters.
As the earths crust is only 30 miles thick.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Credulous writer interpreting "m" as miles would be my guess.
The article doesn't reveal much about the type of life that is found, and why it is called 'alien'.
Yeah, you'd think it would be molten rock at that depth, unlikely for any life-as-we-know-it-Jim
Yeah, 200m. Go to the source.
far deeper in fact, than we've ever cored. That number must be wrong -- I'm guessing it should read 200m. It's in the original story, I know, but it just can't be right.
It's worse than that. The origional article says 350m. 200 miles is about 350 kilometers, so I think they confused m and km and then converted to miles.
LInk to the original publication: Deep groundwater and potential subsurface habitats beneath an Antarctic dry valley
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Why bother converting it at all?
Americans who have even a passing interests in real science knows about the metric system of measurement.
Are able to do at least rough conversions enough to get the idea of scale.
A Meter is about a Year.
A Kilometer is about 6/10 of a mile.
A Centimeter is about 1/2 inch
For understanding science stories this level of rough accuracy is good enough for them to get an understanding of scale.
Of course if you are using real science.
A. You wouldn't use Discovery News as a source.
B. You would think in terms of metric for all measurement.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Yeah, that would be well into the mantle. As we all know, the only thing that can live there is the Mole People.
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I found more information here: more information There is mention of 200m: "We believe the aquifer beneath Lake Vida is a remnant of a time when the water levels across [the valley] were much higher than present. Upwards of 200 meters higher,”. However, the instruments they were using were only capable of penetrating 600M so it's definately not 200 miles!!
Somebody should tell him...
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Man, no wonder Americans can't figure out metric ... people like you keep confusing the crap out of them.
And it's "metre" not "meter" .. another Americansism which is incorrect.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Somebody should tell him...
Hey, I made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs...
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
A Meter is about a Year.
With this conversion, I conclude that Han made the Kessell run in about 3.7x10^17 years. That doesn't sound too impressive after all.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Silly Americans. "Metre" is of course the correct spelling. It rathre annoys me when they write it in that othre mannre. By the way, I love your leathre jacket. Just be careful though in rainy weathre - you might get watre stains.
I find it very sad that you heard this story and thought "AvP" and not "The Thing." You officially need to watch more classic movies now.
They didn't find any life, just some really salty water. And I really doubt that any life they find there would be especially alien. Quite a leap to go from there to Mars.
Congress would certainly be more popular if they were all buried 200 miles below ground.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Really. You've lived long enough to learn to write somewhat articulately, and still don't understand about dialects and different spelling of words in different countries? Do you call all cultures not your own "ignorant"? Let's hope you don't have to deal with a global economy.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
No, the 350m mentioned in TFA is the depth limit of the detection system they were using, not the depth of the briny aquifer. For the depth of the brine, they say it's deeper than 100 meters: "Deep (>100m) low-resistivity zones that we interpret to represent brine-bearing materials were detected throughout the lower Taylor Valley subsurface."
I was thinking of a Lovecraft tale, At the Mountains of Madness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
It seems quite clear to me that each plant's 'briny solution' is the real intelligence on the planet, and we are just playthings for them
Wherever You Go, There You Are
So you're saying there are no illegal aliens in the US?
Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
Every nation gets the government it deserves
- Joseph de Maistre