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\nSigns of life from Antarctic lake buried under more than 2,000 feet of ice\n

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\nSigns of life have been detected in waters from a subglacial Lake Whillans half a mile beneath the surface of Antarctic. On Jan. 28, scientists retrieved a baseball bat-sized gray plastic vessel filled with water from Lake Whillans. The...\nSigns of life have been detected in waters from a subglacial Lake Whillans half a mile beneath the surface of Antarctic. On Jan. 28, scientists retrieved a baseball bat-sized gray plastic vessel filled with water from Lake Whillans. The vessel was sent into a cargo container laboratory on skis, where some of the water was poured into bottles that contain a growth medium to culture bacteria in the water. When the lake water was viewed under a microscope, it was observed that tiny cells in the water glowed green in response to DNA-sensitive dye. Scientists said that despite being sealed beneath 2,600 feet of ice, it is likely microbes in the lake obtained energy by consuming oxygen released from water melting off the ice sheet in the lake to metabolize iron and sulfur. US scientists reported on Jan. 27 that they had drilled through 2,600 feet of ice to reach Lake Whillans, a subglacial lake buried beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Scientists with the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project, which is funded by the US National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, began drilling Jan. 21. One of the primary purposes of the WISSARD project is to look for signs of life in the lake, which, if present, would most likely be in the form of microorganisms adapted to live in the extreme cold, dark environment of a subglacial lake. The American project marks the third attempt to drill into a subglacial lake in Antarctica within the past year. Russia successfully drilled into Lake Vostok last year. A British attempt to drill into Lake Ellsworth failed last month. SOURCE: MSNBC, Discovery Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Discover Magazine, Wired, University of California, Santa Cruz\n
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1:45
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12th - Higher Ed
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Subjects
Science
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\nNext Animation Studio\n\n
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Date
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2013
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English
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For Teacher Use
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water, scientists, pressure, antarctica
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wissard, sample, borehole, lake, lake whillans, whillans ice stream subglacial access research drilling, hole, sterilize, us nati, drill, feet deep
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