The Lost World of Lake Vida
Credit & Copyright: Thomas Nylen & Andrew Fountain (PSU), NASA, NSF

A lake hidden beneath 19 meters of ice and gravel has been found near the bottom of the world that might contain an ecosystem completely separate from our own. In a modern version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic book Lost World, scientists are now plotting a mission to drill down into the lake and take out a small part to see what's there. Lake Vida, buried under Antarctic ice for over 2,500 years, is liquid only because of its high salt content. Previously, scientists drilled to within a few meters of the lake and indeed found frozen microbes. Their existence bolsters speculation that similar microorganisms could be found in frozen brine beneath the surface of Mars. If living organisms are found in Lake Vida, they may give an indication that life might even still exist under similar frozen ice-sheets, such as under the larger Lake Vostok, parts of Mars, and even moons of Jupiter such as Europa. Pictured above, a robot meteorological station continues to monitor surface conditions over the ice-sealed lake.

Ya know, like others, I'm busting to know what they might find... but I also think they should leave it alone. They are planning to breach an isolated environment - who knows what might get introduced and destroy it.

Peace.

I too, wish to know what is there. We shall hope that they are aware of the danger. Many peoples have made that screw-up over the ages, some not that long ago. (kudzoo, zebra mussels, fire ants, killer bees, armadillo, love bugs come immeadately to mind.)

Well, I am sure that it will be either a completely robotic mission, or they will wear bio-gear. Scientists aren't that dumb... oh wait some of them are.

kudzoo. the funniest sounding scientific mistake ever.

this is very interesting. if the area has been completly isolated for that long do they think that evolution would have "stood still" and that it would be a glimpse into the past of sorts?

add to that list the pest of queensland, the cain toad


B\W what the hell is a love bug???????

Very interesting...when's the date slated for explorations? I can't wait to see what they find..it could be anything down there. Something that isolated from outside influences could have evolved in different directiosn tahn their cosmopolitan equivalents, there could be "dinosaur" type creatures down there...thing's we've never seen...hmmm..

This is highly unlikely, but there could be a heap of elements that are not naturally occuring on earth. That would be cool.

There could also be new carbon-based life forms (bacteria, etc) that came from meteors. I love science.