That 14 million year old antarctic lake we're drilling into

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319736]

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/lake-vostok-antarctica/

"When the sample can be recovered, however, it’s hoped that it’ll shed light on extremophiles — lifeforms that survive in extreme environments. Life in Lake Vostok would need adaptions to the oxygen-rich environment, which could include high concentrations of protective enzymes. The conditions in Lake Vostok are very similar to the conditions on Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus, so the new data could also strengthen the case for extraterrestrial life."

My body is ready.

[Anonymous No.2319749]

>>2319736
Let's hope they don't wake up some huge dormant creature and determined to kill us all.

Seriously, though, I can't wait to see what they find. Might turn out to be very exciting.

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2319752]

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319767]

>>2319749

It's exciting enough that it's super-saturated with oxygen. That bodes well for an oxygen-rich Europan sea, and oxygen is what made complex life possible on Earth.

With the heat from hydrothermal vents and plentiful oxygen, finding life in the Europan sea is essentially guaranteed. In my view it's a far more deserving target than Mars.

[Anonymous No.2319773]

YES THE SEA

We should really be putting more effort into researching this shit :|

[Anonymous No.2319776]

>>2319767
yeah no dip, no one who is actually interested or has done any research into exobiology thinks that Mars will have any kind of interesting life on it. Fossilized or otherwise

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319803]

>>2319773

Sea bros represent. The strangest new species, the most potent new sources of energy, and the richest deposits of precious metals we need to continue progress will all be found beneath the waves.

If our future is to be space, then the sea must be our present.

[Anonymous No.2319817]

>>2319803
fuck that, I can't swim

[Anonymous No.2319819]

I am so absurdly excited for this.

[Anonymous No.2319831]

>inb4 nothing living is found

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2319844]

>>2319767
>In my view it's a far more deserving target than Mars.
Oh no you fuckin' diin't

[Anonymous No.2319847]

>real science
>4 posts

>science vs. religion
>367 post and 57 images omitted

[Anonymous No.2319854]

>>2319847
>you now realise that /sci/ is 80% of other boards trolling, 20% actual science.

[Anonymous No.2319858]

>>2319844
When it comes to the possibility for discovering life, and exploring entirely new environments, I'd say Europa is going to be more fun. Mars is closer to being colonized, but Europa's for SCIENCE!

[Anonymous No.2319863]

>>2319844
I agree with Europa as a better target. Though that might just be because I really liked the way Arthur C. Clarke pictured it. Mars is just... dusty. Europa is mysterious enough to be promising.

[Anonymous No.2319868]

Drilling, you say? Into a ancient body of water untouched by man?

Sounds interesting.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319892]

>>2319863

>>Europa is mysterious enough to be promising.

Plus, discovering a martian microbe wouldn't change much on Earth.

Seeing a Europan fish, however.... (Yes I'm aware the pic says Titan)

[Anonymous No.2319902]

They're going to unearth the polar gates to the world beneath.

Conditions on the planet are already bearing witness to this shift.

[Anonymous No.2319911]

>>2319902
wtf?

[Anonymous No.2319913]

inb4 atlantis

[Anonymous No.2319916]

>>2319911
The triple rebirth of the sun is upon us, as the Ancient Mayans predicted.

[Anonymous No.2319917]

YOU FOOLS

[Anonymous No.2319918]

What are the chances of some kind of bacteria or virus living in this lake being released into our environment and starting a ELE plague?

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319919]

>>2319918

They're refreezing the ice over the probe, taking care to prevent contamination for scientific reasons. Those same measures will prevent anything within the lake from contaminating the research team unless deliberately released.

[Anonymous No.2319921]

How did they locate that lake anyway?

[Anonymous No.2319935]

>>2319919
>>2319918
I'd be more afraid of US contaminating THEM. But I'm really glad they're being careful to not do this.

Fucking life on Europa, my body is shaking with readiness.

>>2319917
haha, holy shit. What's this from?

[Anonymous No.2319940]

>>2319921
it's a fucking awesome story: they were scanning around to take a topographical map of the place under the ice, suddenly there's this big fuck-off black spot on their map where the radar goes wonky. Something, something huge in this gorge, is there, and it isn't ice, but water. FUCKING WATER. HOLY SHIT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maQhn96AhuI

get ready to shit your pants, my friend.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319942]

>>2319935

>>I'd be more afraid of US contaminating THEM.

We are. I said so in that post. Then went on to explain that the same measures we're using to prevent contamination (us contaminating them) will keep us safe from becoming contaminated ourselves. It was a difficult idea to convey clearly.

[Anonymous No.2319953]

Plague is there.

[Anonymous No.2319954]

>>2319940
Then why is it not freezing?

[Anonymous No.2319958]

>>2319954
I know, motherfucker, it defies logic.

>eat butter
>get warm
>stay thin

best weight loss plan: go to Antarctica.

[Anonymous No.2319970]

>>2319940

[Anonymous No.2319974]

>>2319942
I hope to God or that we don't fuck up and contaminate them. I would rather mankind never know then for us to go down there and find a bunch of fascinating corpses.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319975]

>>2319940

They were probably the ones shitting their pants when they figured out the big black splotch on their maps wasn't the result of equipment error.

Either something in the lake is chemically acting similar to antifreeze, or something in the lake is generating heat.

[Anonymous No.2319982]

>mfw that one X-files episode with the frozen parasites
>ohmygoditseatingmyface.jpg

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2319989]

ITT: Fhtagn R'lyeh

[Anonymous No.2319990]

>>2319940
Hell, that really puts it in perspective.
It's like a damned biological time machine.

[Anonymous No.2319991]

>>2319975
> generating heat
OH GOD GODZILLA

[Anonymous No.2319992]

>>2319975
>Either something in the lake is chemically acting similar to antifreeze, or something in the lake is generating heat.

Oh well, sir. Now you've gone and made me excited.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2319997]

>>2319990

>>It's like a damned biological time machine.

Yup. Because if there's life in that lake, it has been evolving in isolation for 14 million years.

[Anonymous No.2320001]

>>2319992
Watch the linked document. It has a theory that earth's heat radiation could do that lake in time

[Anonymous No.2320004]

>>2320001
Exactly why I'm excited.

[Anonymous No.2320005]

>>2320001
could do what?

[Anonymous No.2320007]

>>2319989
The day we find R'lyeh is actually the entire moon of Europa I'm going to jizz in my pants, both of excitement and fear.

>bloop.wav

[Anonymous No.2320008]

It's probably the portal to bizarre-o earth

[Anonymous No.2320010]

>>2319997
>Yup. Because if there's life in that lake, it has been evolving in isolation for 14 million years.

This thought scares me and tickles my mind

[Anonymous No.2320014]

>>2320005
Warm up the ice, melt it, make a lake. Not entirely, but a lake size of Vostok for example could born in time when Earth's heat radiation comes in help.

[Anonymous No.2320026]

>>2319858
mars closer to being colonized
cool story bro!

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2320035]

>>2320026
Out of all celestial objects, the Moon and Mars are the closest to being colonized. The moon because of its proximity, and Mars because it is the most Earth-like planet.

[Anonymous No.2320041]

>>2320035

>Implying Venus isn't more Earth like.

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2320048]

>>2320041
Tell me the atmospheric pressure and temperature of Venus.

Tell me, bitch.

[Anonymous No.2320050]

>>2320041
I guess you don't know about the hot dense soup of toxins swirling around on Venus? Odd, I thought they still taught that in 1st grade... hm?

[Anonymous No.2320055]

>>2320050
>>2320048

>Implying I give two fucks about a little bit of pressure and heat.

[Anonymous No.2320065]

>>2319954
The average water temperature is around −3 °C (27 °F); 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.

[Anonymous No.2320069]

>>2320055
Your body is not ready.

[Anonymous No.2320079]

In April 2005, German, Russian, and Japanese researchers found that the lake has tides. Depending on the position of the Sun and the Moon, the surface of the lake rises between 1 and 2 cm. The researchers assume that the fluctuation of the lake surface has a pumping effect that keeps the water circulating, which would promote the productivity of microorganisms if there are any.

[Colonel Coffee Mug !phJ7yIcs.Q No.2320080]

>>2319892

>Transparent, turquouise liquid methane

I don't think that's how it works, have I missed something?

[Anonymous No.2320096]

>>2320048
IIRC in much of the upper atmosphere of Venus, the temperature and pressure is the same as at Earth's surface. There have been numerous serious plans to build floating cities there. If your house was simply wrapped in an acidproof plastic bag and hung from an airship, you could be in Venus right now, with no heating, cooling, pressurisation, radiation protection or micrometeorite shielding needed.

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2320101]

>>2320096
>no radiation protection needed
VENUS. DOES. NOT. HAVE. A. MAGNETIC. FIELD.

[Colonel Coffee Mug !phJ7yIcs.Q No.2320107]

>>2320101

The atmosphere is dense enough in the lower... Oh.

[Anonymous No.2320109]

>>2320101
It has a thick atmosphere.

[Anonymous No.2320115]

Time is short, however. It’s possible that the drillers won’t be able to reach the water before the end of the current Antarctic summer, and they’ll need to wait another year before the process can continue.

>Next Year
>2012
>mfw

[Anonymous No.2320172]

>>2320115
Lol I didn't realize it. This could generate even more hype than CERN blackholes.

[Anonymous No.2320226]

>>2320115

This is how it will go. The drilling is postponed to 2012 and all the mayafags join with the R'lyehfags in much rejoicement over the upcoming apocalypse.

The actual findings (published 12/23/2012 for great troll justice) will blow the minds of /sci/ but unimpress the rest of the world: Tiny fuckers found in an arctic lake.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2320241]

>>2320226

Those tiny fuckers are likely to be pretty exotic by all relevant measures. 14 million years of isolated evolution will do that. I can't wait to see what they look like.

[Anonymous No.2320253]

>>2320241
The only option is tentacles.

[Anonymous No.2320277]

>>2320241

Indeed, and I can hardly contain myself in expectation.

The relevant measures will not be enough to impress the majority of people, though.

Unless we manage to wake something else from it's deep sleep.

[Anonymous No.2320300]

>>2320277
lolno. It's a nice fantasy, but it'll be microshit.

[Anonymous No.2320301]

> BP in charge of Lake Vostok perforations

[Anonymous No.2320306]

> BP in charge of Lake Vostok perforrations

[Anonymous No.2320318]

>>2320306
I hate how (rich) companies can wreak havoc like hell and then just go on with a small punishment.

[Anonymous No.2320321]

wow, so some guy follows the geocentric life model

[Anonymous No.2320356]

>>2320318

BP actually has a good track record for safety. My grandfather worked as a safety manager for one of their refinery plants for many years. The oil spill was an accident and accidents happen.

If you can name one other thing they've done that has had at least moderately significant negative consequences then maybe you have a point. If not then you're simply falling for typical media fear-mongering villification like everyone else.

Most of the oil in the ocean comes from natural seepage. This whole situation has been largely overblown. BP was only legally required to spend a certain amount of money, enough to fix the problem they accidentally caused. Thanks to the media frenzy they've had to spend MUCH more just to keep their reputation from being completely destroyed.

[Anonymous No.2320372]

>>2320356
0/10 try harder

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/business/energy-environment/13bprisk.html?_r=1

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bps-dismal-safety-record/story?id=10763042

As the nation comes to grips with the worst oil disaster in its history, there is evidence BP has one of the worst safety track records of any major oil company operating in the United States.
In two separate disasters prior to the Gulf oil rig explosion, 30 BP workers have been killed, and more than 200 seriously injured.

In the last five years, investigators found, BP has admitted to breaking U.S. environmental and safety laws and committing outright fraud. BP paid $373 million in fines to avoid prosecution.
BP's safety violations far outstrip its fellow oil companies. According to the Center for Public Integrity, in the last three years, BP refineries in Ohio and Texas have accounted for 97 percent of the "egregious, willful" violations handed out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

[Anonymous No.2320377]

Mr. Random Anotherfag here.

>>2320356
Wow. I can just taste the sweet sweet aroma of indoctrination.
>name one other thing
http://a11news.com/3255/bp-safety-record-dismal/
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bps-dismal-safety-record/story?id=10763042&page=2
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8436163

Also on CNN Anderson Cooper:
>BP has had infractions in Texas and Alaska within the last 5 years. They asked the people of Texas to help with the clean up and paid them $600.50 and required that they sign a waiver stating that they would not sue BP for any respiratory problems that they may experience down the line. One of the guests on Anderson Cooper's show said that she tracked down over 6,000 cases in that Texas spill, of people who worked on the clean up who later experienced respiratory problems. BP tacked on the extra .50c paid to each worker so that they could keep track of the people through their income taxes filed

M-mm. Just smell that cooking.

[Anonymous No.2320379]

>>2319736
>extremophiles
>4chan

[Anonymous No.2320450]

>>2319863
>Mars dusty

[Anonymous No.2320467]

>>2320450
Too bad your image was colored in.
http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000827_1875/

[Anonymous No.2320469]

>>2319767
well another hyper-oxygenated lake that was opened up, yielded nothing. So hopefully this will be different.

Also Japan is going to be mining the deep sea:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T110107004586.htm

With robots no doubt.

[Anonymous No.2320489]

>>2319736 extremophiles

Exreme paedophiles??? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[Anonymous No.2320496]

>>2320467

[Anonymous No.2320500]

>>2320467
to bad you didnt understand

[Anonymous No.2320509]

>>2319844
yo inurdaes take it easy man. You know how many surface probes we've sent to Europa mang? None. Fuck, we've sent a crazy amount of probes to mars.

Isn't it time Europa got some love? Fuck we're send a probe to Pluto. PLUTO AIN'T EVEN A PLANET ANY MORE!

Not to mention large amounts of perchlorate were found in the martian soil. And oxidizing compounds like perchlorate generally tend to be killy...

Also it's better if Mars doesn't have life because then it is ethical for us to colonize it.

[Anonymous No.2320564]

Isn't Lake Vostok supposed to be where the Elder Ones fled to at one stage?

[Anonymous No.2320584]

Protip: it's not 14 million years old

[Inurdaes !V1sPhobos. No.2320594]

>>2320509
I took it as him saying we should go to Europa before Mars. If it were up to me we'd have a bunch of probes going to every single moon or dwarf planet over 100km in diameter.

[Anonymous No.2320617]

>>2320584
protip: its been a by a physical barrier sealed-off environment for 14 million years. the water might have renewed itself, but the hypothetical life inside the lake had no interaction with the rest of the planet.

tl;dr: words have several meanings depending on context, not necessarily the one you think it is.

[Anonymous No.2320624]

>>2320594
We need to send a surface or subsurface probe to Europa. NASA or the Russians are discussing doing so, but the decisions aren't in place yet. Might hinge on funding, so write up your politician friends!

[Anonymous No.2320630]

>>2320617
>implying the earth has been in existence for at least 14 million years

[Anonymous No.2320647]

>>2320630 implying it hasn't

[Anonymous No.2320667]

Awesome.

[Anonymous No.2320674]

One can imagine their faces when they open up a 14 million year old bottle of wine (gotta be sure not to contaminate the wine).

[Anonymous No.2320682]

>ery similar to the conditions on Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus

for fucks sake, maybe the conditions are similar on Uranus, OP, but we know FUCK ALL what the conditions in water bodies on europa or enceladus are

I hate when "scientists" indulge in baseless speculations like this

[Anonymous No.2321895]

>>2319989
fear arises deep in me as i scroll down the pic

[Anonymous No.2322270]

this thread still around?

Once they make this drill work, we're sending one to Europa. Under that ice, there is liquid water, and in that liquid water, there is going to be life. fucking bank on it. BANK ON IT.

[Anonymous No.2322308]

body ready, captain!

[Anonymous No.2322354]

>>2321895
I, too.

[Anonymous No.2322375]

I really really want to take a dump in that lake.

[Anonymous No.2322387]

>>2322375
It would be hilarious.
"I'm so hardcore when I took a dump in a lake it killed 10 tons of fish."

[Anonymous No.2322394]

>>2322270
Wanna make a bet, bro?

If they find life over there, I'll be your bitch for the rest of my life. If they don't you'll be my bitch for the rest of your life.

What do you say, bro?

[Anonymous No.2322449]

>>2319997
That made me cream my pants a little.

[No.2322456]

[No.2322470]

mfw you learn the lake had been sterile the whole time

[Anonymous No.2322471]

Guys what if they find fucking trilobites or some shit like that. Oh my god.

[Anonymous No.2322478]

>>2322471
Seeing as that's an Earthan species, and conditions may not be similar enough to warrant the evolution of such a creature, I find it unlikely that the life there (if there is life) would be Trilobite-like.

[Anonymous No.2322488]

>>2322471
What would there energy source be?

Life in its simplified form is a catalyst and can only exists where there is potential energy.

[Anonymous No.2322500]

>>2322488

Fission

[Anonymous No.2322509]

>>2322500
we may yet evolve to the point of using fusion as an energy source.

[Anonymous No.2322734]

>>2322394
you know what? let's do it.
heat, water, isolation, you need nothing else. I will be your bitch forever if they don't find life or evidence of life on Europa.

>>2322488
any kind of heat would work. And if not, pressure of some kind. Any sort of fucking combustion, dude.

[Anonymous No.2322757]

>>2322478
Im pretty sure he meant in Vostok

>prough SEA

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2322808]

>>2320682

>>we know FUCK ALL what the conditions in water bodies on europa or enceladus are

Not true. We've simulated the effects of high energy particles from space on chemically correct "Europan" ice. It catalyzed reactions within the ice that released oxygen into the water below.

The experiment is shown in James Cameron's sea/space documentary "aliens of the deep".

[Anonymous No.2322899]

>>2320682
seriously? you know nothing about uranus or planets at all.

[Anonymous No.2324163]

>>2322470
WTF is up with that child? Is she trying to get herself raped?

[marinegeologyfag No.2324257]

>>2322808
sure, that's great that oxygen gets released into the water beneath, but it's the CHEMICAL COMPOSITION of the water that's also important for life/what kind of metabolism is occurring. we don't know shit about that since, well, we haven't gotten there yet.

and btw, most of the deep sea science community considers cameron a hack. i can't even begin to tell you about the errors in that 'aliens of the deep' movie. he cuts together footage from vents in the atlantic/pacific/lau basin in one shot...3 VERY disparate communities/styles of venting that would NOT ever exist together. yeah, i mad about it.

[Anonymous No.2324501]

>>2324257
>CHEMICAL COMPOSITION of the water
ITS ACTUALLY HEAVY WATER

seriously though man there's so much crazy shit that happens on earth we just can't possibly comprehend what might be happening on Europa. It could be infintecimally simple, or extremely complex, who knows.