Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Report: Russian Scientists Drill Through Antarctic Ice Sheet to Lake Vostok

    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    According to CBS News, Russian scientists claim to have drilled through two miles of Antarctic ice to a subterranean body of water, known as Lake Vostok, which has not been exposed to the air for 14 million to 20 million years.

    Lake Vostok lies at the heart of Antarctica, according to the Daily Galaxy, and is about the size of Lake Ontario, 250 kilometers long by 50 kilometers wide. It is thought to be rich in oxygen. Because of its long isolation, scientists believe life forms hitherto unknown to humankind might have evolved inside the lake.

    Lake Vostok has been explored for decades, with scientists taking core samples of the frozen lake, which contains air bubbles that indicate what atmospheric conditions were in Antarctica throughout the past several hundred thousand years, according to Our Amazing Planet.

    The effort to penetrate to the liquid lake has not been without controversy or difficulty. Deep ice drilling usually involves using a chemical such as Freon or even aviation fuel to keep the drill from freezing up.

    The fear is some of the chemical will spill into the lake once the drill penetrates, contaminating it. Also anything that exposes the lake to the outside might introduce micro-organisms to a body of water that has not seen the light of day for millions of years.

    The Russians are also racing against the onset of the Antarctic winter. Then temperatures plunge to greater than 100 degrees below zero, making operations on the ice field impossible.

    Nevertheless, scientists are excited at the prospect of being able to take samples of one of the last truly alien environments on Earth. But new discoveries will have to wait until the beginning of the next Antarctic summer, close to the end of 2012.

    In the meantime, teams from Great Britain and the U.S. are preparing to conduct their own drilling operations, at Lake Ellsworth and the Willans Ice stream in the Western Antarctic. Which team will be the first to obtain a sample of water, with whatever alien life in contains, remains to be seen.

     
    • Barky  •  Goodman, Wisconsin  •  3 mths ago
      Finally, a yahoo story that intrigues intellects. No wonder there are so few posts. 77°30′S 106°00′ECoordinates: 77°30′S 106°00′E. subglacial rift lake. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleo-climatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated. it remains liquid below the normal freezing point because of high pressure from the weight of the ice above it. Geothermal heat from the Earth's interior warms the bottom of the lake. The ice sheet itself insulates the lake from cold temperatures on the surface.
      • Connie 3 mths ago
        Please flush twice. It’s a long way to Lake Vostok.
      • Arthur 3 mths ago
        i no flush one
      • George 3 mths ago
        Connie and Arthur's comments simply reflect the low level of their intellect. Please start thinking and writing like adults.
    • blu_eyed_child  •  Kansas City, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      As much as I am for scientific progress. I think that this is highly dangerous to the rest of the outside world and should be approached with caution rather than made into a sloppy little contest to see who can get there first. Knowing that there could be 'unique organisms' down there also implies that there may be viruses and/or bacteria down there that we don't know anything about. And in the case that we don't endanger ourselves, we could be at risk of destroying basically an entire unknown world of organisms that have survived thus far for millions of years. :) Just my opinion.
      • danny 3 mths ago
        I have the exact same opinion.
    • Make MY Day  •  3 mths ago
      Maybe they will find Jimmy Hoffa's body.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 mths ago
      Theyre going to let it out again.....
    • Joseph  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      Haven't these guys seen any horror movies. Don't worry about what goes into the lake only what might come out of it.
    • Frank  •  Winchester, Kentucky  •  3 mths ago
      ....and if you happen to come across a huge alien spacecraft buried under a block of ice, leave it the hell alone!!!
    • Ray  •  3 mths ago
      Coming to a grocery store near you, delicious Miocene Age fish and bottled Antarctic water. YUM!!!
    • Robert  •  Phoenix, Arizona  •  3 mths ago
      maybe coors beer will but that water to make the beer taste better,
    • alien1human0  •  Longview, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      Does water get better with age, like wine? Think what a bottle of water from this lake would cost!!
    • Barbarian_Norm  •  Fayetteville, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      I have my Zombie kit ready...do you?
    • TheTruth  •  New Orleans, Louisiana  •  3 mths ago
      Get ready for germs and viruses not seen in millions of years.Not a new horror movie,but reality..............
    • Qwickdraw  •  3 mths ago
      Somebody please tell me why I have to keep adding the science section back into my yahoo front page after I select it.
      • jane 3 mths ago
        I noticed the same thing and found that it only happens when I hit the "back" button on my Firefox browser after selecting the sections that I want. If I click "home" the sections I selected stay there.
    • Paul  •  Herndon, Virginia  •  3 mths ago
      CBS News??? Go find an honest reliable news source.
    • Magneto  •  3 mths ago
      Russians will probably find Jimmy Hoffa wearing cement shoes
    • Cavendish Mubble  •  3 mths ago
      Dear Russian drilling team. Please don't screw the pooch on this.
    • BuzzSaw  •  3 mths ago
      We've heard this same Stupid story for the last 4 days .... where's the supposed "update"?? All Yahooie does is change the Headlines!! Who gives a chit now.
    • strangedreamer59  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  3 mths ago
      Need to toss in a rover or two. Get a real look around down there.
    • Jack Burton  •  Beverly Hills, California  •  3 mths ago
      They release Solanum, thus begins the zombie apocalypse...
    • Merle  •  3 mths ago
      They found water that was 2 million years old? Wow!
    • Pete  •  3 mths ago
      Our drilling will be to look for Oil, completely bypassing all life in the lake unless it can be used as a weapon or a cure for the diseases of the Wealthy.
    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]
    Loading...
    • Smoke rises into the air from a large forest fire in Gila National Forest, New Mexico

      Santa Fe, New Mexico (Reuters) - A wildfire burned out of control for a fourth day in the steep mountains of southwestern New Mexico on Saturday, one of several blazes that have consumed more than 200 square miles (520 square km) of rugged land in six U.S. states. Efforts to contain the blazes spreading in sparsely populated …

    • (Reuters) - A 21-year-old woman who was shot after she wandered drunk into a Colorado couple's home in the middle of the night will face charges of felony trespassing, her lawyer said on Saturday. Zoey Ripple walked through an unlocked screen door leading into the bedroom of the couple, who said they shouted for her to …

    • U.S. Vice President Joe Biden hands a diploma to a cadet at West Point during the graduation ceremony for the class of 2012 in New York

      WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most of the cadets who graduated on Saturday from West Point were in elementary school when hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and enrolled in the U.S. military academy with wars raging in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden lauded the brave choices …

    • NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Many folks may fret themselves into a frenzy over the November U.S. elections and whether the world will come to an end on December 21, but for about 1,500 people gathered in New Orleans for the United Astrologers Conference, all will be revealed this week. "Some of the world's top astrologers are …

    • The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral

      CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch and floated inside a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon capsule on Saturday, the first privately owned spaceship to reach the orbital outpost, NASA said. Running ahead of schedule, station commander Oleg Kononenko …

     
    Add your ideas and help make it happen. Join the conversation.
    Should Bill and Donna take on more risk to boost their business?
    How Josh's comment on a Remake America video laid the groundwork for something bigger.