View Full Version : Missing Scientists Mystery Deepens in Frozen Antarctica
WhiteFeather
7th February 2012, 01:06
The world holds its breath, hoping for the best after six days of radio silence from Antarctica -- where a team of Russian scientists is racing the clock and the oncoming winter to dig to an alien lake far beneath the ice.
The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the surface of the icy continent. Lake Vostok hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/660/371/LakeVostok.jpg
The team’s last contact with colleagues in the unfrozen world was six long days ago, and scientists from around the globe are unsure of the fate of the mission -- and the scientists themselves -- as Antarctica’s killing winter draws near.
“When you’re outside, it’s extremely cold -- minus 30, minus 40,” microbiologist Dr. David A. Pearce told FoxNews.com. “If you left your eyes open the fluid in them would start to freeze. Your nostrils would start to freeze. The moisture in your mouth would start to freeze,” he said.
Pearce heads a team from the British Antarctic Survey on a competing mission, set to plumb the depths of Lake Ellsworth, one of a string of more than 370 lakes beneath Antarctica that may soon see light for the first time since well before Fred Flintstone’s ancestors roamed the planet. But time is running out for the Russian scientists.
“They need to be out by the 6th of February,” Pearce said, when winter sets in and temperatures drop another 40 degrees centigrade. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -129 degrees Fahrenheit (-89.4 degrees Celsius).
The Russian scientists have been communicating with Pearce and colleagues at a third Antarctic expedition -- a study of the subglacial Whillans Ice Stream mainly featuring U.S. scientists. The competing teams have been watching the Russians and sharing notes over the past few days, Pearce told FoxNews.com -- yet no one knows what has happened.
“We’re all waiting with bated breath,” he said.
Antarctic scientists carry Iridium satellite phones for communication, he said, but there are spots without coverage. The scientists may have encountered a technical issue, he speculated, or perhaps they’ve simply packed up and are travelling home -- keeping their discoveries to themselves.
“I don’t think there’s anything sinister or ominous,” Pearce said. Still, the absence of information after nearly a week has the world’s scientists worried and wondering.
"Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station," Dr. John Priscu -- professor of ecology at Montana State University and former head of the Whillans Antarctic exploration program -- told FoxNews.com via email.
"I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week," he said.
Pearce knows well enough, having spent 15 years working in and on Antarctica. Vostok is right in the center of the Antarctic platter, he said, situated somewhat to the East. To survive the extreme colds there, scientists wear as many layers as possible and do everything they can to work indoors.
The actual well head itself would be enclosed by a tent, he said, and scientists would sleep in tents as well. But they must battle more than just the cold.
“It’s not just physically challenging, it’s psychologically challenging,” Pearce said. “You’re away from your family and friends, and there’s pressure to deliver the science you’ve promised. “
The Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute did not respond to FoxNews.com requests for information on the status of the team, information that did not surprise Priscu.
“The Russians have their own way of dealing with things, particularly the media, which I respect,” he told FoxNews.com. “There is nobody to call.”
Other science institutions that typically conduct investigations in Antarctica did not respond to requests for information, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the NSF’s United States Antarctic Program, or the U.S. Ice Drilling Program.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/03/missing-scientists-mystery-deepens-in-frozen-antarctica/?intcmp=features#ixzz1lclP2NTB
RMorgan
7th February 2012, 01:13
Lake Vostok exploration is very dangerous.
No one knows what´s down there. There could be deadly virus and bacteria held there for millions of years.
That´s why it´s exploration is so delicate. We don´t want to contaminate the lake with our contemporary virus and bacteria; We also don´t want to let anything similar held safely down there to come up to our world, which could be potentially disastrous.
I just hope this is not the case, I mean, I hope the team didn´t allow any kind of ancient micro-organism to escape to our environment.
Cheers,
Raf.
Lazlo
7th February 2012, 01:27
They've reached the lake, I believe that it was yesterday that the announcement was made.
http://www.slashgear.com/lake-vostok-drilling-complete-earths-oldest-super-clean-water-system-reached-06212292/
RMorgan
7th February 2012, 01:37
So, does anyone know if they are still missing?
If they´ve managed to reach the lake and then they suddenly stopped making contact, well...We might have a problem.
Cheers,
Raf.
DeDukshyn
7th February 2012, 01:54
"“When you’re outside, it’s extremely cold -- minus 30, minus 40,” microbiologist Dr. David A. Pearce told FoxNews.com. “If you left your eyes open the fluid in them would start to freeze. Your nostrils would start to freeze. The moisture in your mouth would start to freeze,” he said."
PFFFT!! That guy has obviously never been to Canada. Two weeks ago we had 8 days of -30 to -40C and windchills to minus 49C (Calgary). We all survived and all went to work like normal -- had to plug in block heaters in cars and warm them up for 15 minutes ... but we made it. Business as usual ;)
But, I have been following this story for a while (their drilling into the lake), and this is most fascinating news ...
NeverMind
7th February 2012, 01:54
So, does anyone know if they are still missing?
If they´ve managed to reach the lake and then they suddenly stopped making contact, well...We might have a problem.
Cheers,
Raf.
It seems they never were missing.
Apparently the "news" spread because of a single Fox News report.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/03/fox-flub-russian-vostok-lake-scientists-safe
By the way, if you want to see a titillating report on the promise of Lake Vostok, see this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2095193/Lake-Vostok-Russian-scientists-drilling-alien-Antarctic-lake-buried-20m-years.html
(I didn't say it was good, I said titillating :))
RMorgan
7th February 2012, 01:59
So, does anyone know if they are still missing?
If they´ve managed to reach the lake and then they suddenly stopped making contact, well...We might have a problem.
Cheers,
Raf.
It seems they never were missing.
Apparently the "news" spread because of a single Fox News report.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/03/fox-flub-russian-vostok-lake-scientists-safe
By the way, if you want to see a titillating report on the promise of Lake Vostok, see this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2095193/Lake-Vostok-Russian-scientists-drilling-alien-Antarctic-lake-buried-20m-years.html
(I didn't say it was good, I said titillating :))
That´s a very intriguing report indeed, my friend! :)
Anyway, they say that the water down there is twice as pure than double destilled water!! If it´s not contaminated, I´d love to have a bottle of it! ;)
20.000.000 years old super-pure water must taste much better than any 21 years old scotch whiskey. :)
Cheers,
Raf.
NeverMind
7th February 2012, 02:06
It was intriguing, wasn't it? :)
How could it not be when it includes the magic words "Eva Braun" and a few swastikas for good measure? :-)
On a more serious note, I don't understand how they can say with such certainty that the water is "super clean".
How do they know it was not polluted by something thousands of years ago?
It may be unlikely, but it is not unfathomable.
Anyway, I am not very enthusiastic about this expedition.
Of course, it's fascinating... but fiddling with something unknown is always dangerous, only in this case it's not the explorers themselves but the entire planet that could be endangered.
It just seems strangely reckless (not to use a stronger word) of them not to have considered the possibility of unknown micro-organisms and such.
WhiteFeather
7th February 2012, 02:33
Interesting
Their radio silence has chilling echoes of classic horror film The Thing, where scientists dig up a buried spacecraft in the Antarctic ice, only to unleash an extraterrestrial horror within.
http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/World/In_Search_Of_Alien_Life_Russian_Scientists_Out_Of_Contact-6825.html
Operator
7th February 2012, 02:34
It's unbelievable they are attempting this breakthrough just before an approaching winter disables them to stay there.
If something unexpected happens there will be nobody to 'handle' the situation ... is this the next planned follow-up
of Fukushima ?
WhiteFeather
7th February 2012, 02:44
It's unbelievable they are attempting this breakthrough just before an approaching winter disables them to stay there.
If something unexpected happens there will be nobody to 'handle' the situation ... is this the next planned follow-up
of Fukushima ?
Winter? What's that. We were winterless this year, maybe that's why they are drilling, nice warm temps perhaps. You never know.
DreamsInDigital
7th February 2012, 03:03
http://www.memedr.com/images/210-ancient-aliens-im-not-saying-it-was-aliens-but-it-was-aliens.jpg
Flash
7th February 2012, 03:23
It's unbelievable they are attempting this breakthrough just before an approaching winter disables them to stay there.
If something unexpected happens there will be nobody to 'handle' the situation ... is this the next planned follow-up
of Fukushima ?
Winter? What's that. We were winterless this year, maybe that's why they are drilling, nice warm temps perhaps. You never know.
I am pretty sure whitefeather that you are teasing, with a dry sense of humour.
But in case, as a refresher:
They need to be out by the 6th of February,” Pearce said, when winter sets in and temperatures drop another 40 degrees centigrade. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -129 degrees Fahrenheit (-89.4 degrees Celsius).
your knuckles all over get a hit at that temperature believe me lol!
ThePythonicCow
7th February 2012, 03:50
PFFFT!! That guy has obviously never been to Canada.
Indeed :).
One year in college I went home to upstate New York for Christmas. It did not get above zero that week. In the wee hours of the morning (3 AM or some such) I walked to the mailbox in my shirt sleeves, at 35 F below zero (-37 C). It wasn't too bad I thought. On the way back to the house I realized why - there was a gentle breeze blowing at my walking speed, from the house to the mailbox. On the way back it was a right chilly headwind.
The next year I told my Dad I couldn't make it back for Christmas :).
ThePythonicCow
7th February 2012, 04:03
They've reached the lake, I believe that it was yesterday that the announcement was made.
http://www.slashgear.com/lake-vostok-drilling-complete-earths-oldest-super-clean-water-system-reached-06212292/
If you read that article, the body of the article says they were "about" to reach the lake. The title is (as is often the case) misleading.
Cidersomerset
7th February 2012, 04:15
Hang on folks is this them....( I should have read the posts from the top down sorry Lazlo.LOL.)
I 'm tired I should have been in bed hours ago...Good night...
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'Lost World' reached: 20 million yr old Antarctic lake 'drilled'
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Published: 06 February, 2012, 16:09
Edited: 06 February, 2012, 19:13
After 30 years spent drilling through a four-kilometer-thick ice crust, researchers have finally broken through to a unique subglacial lake. Scientists are set to reveal its 20-million-year-old secrets, and imitate a quest to discover ET life.
The Vostok project breathes an air of mystery and operates at the frontiers of human knowledge. The lake is one of the major discoveries in modern geography; drilling operations at such depths are unprecedented; never before has a geological project required such subtle technologies.
The main inspiration for the project – the Russian scientist who posited the lake’s existence – died just six months before the moment of contact with the lake’s surface. Now, the whole world is looking to Lake Vostok for crucial data which might help to predict climate change.
“Yesterday [on Sunday] our scientists at the Vostok polar station in the Antarctic completed drilling at depths of 3,768 meters and reached the surface of the subglacial lake,” RIA Novosti reported, quoting an unnamed Russian scientist.
Meanwhile, Itar-Tass news agency says the scientists still have a few meters to go.
Lake Vostok is a unique closed ecosystem hidden under some four kilometers of ice. Its water has been isolated from the atmosphere – and therefore from any contact with the outside world – since before man existed. The key question for scientists is, could the lake harbour life?
http://rt.com/files/news/antarctic-million-secrets-lake-583/image-679.jpg
If some primitive bacteria or even more complex life-forms are found to have survived the isolation, it could offer an earth-shattering insight into our planet’s past.
But if the lake proves to be a closed system devoid of any life, it would offer scientists the chance to test their theories on how to search for extra-terrestrial life on future space trips. Conditions in the lake are often described as “alien," as they resemble lakes on Jupiter's moon Europa.
When drilling work began around Vostok Station in the Antarctic in the 1970s, scientists had no idea a mysterious lake lay under the massive ice sheet. It was only in 1996 that Russian specialists, supported by their British counterparts, discovered with sonar and satellite imaging what later proved to be one of the world’s largest freshwater reservoirs. In size, Lake Vostok matches Lake Ontario.
Panoramic photo of Vostok Station showing the layout of the camp. Credit: Todd Sowers LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades, New York (Image from physorg.com)
Panoramic photo of Vostok Station showing the layout of the camp. Credit: Todd Sowers LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades, New York (Image from physorg.com)
However in 1998, drilling had to be halted just 130 meters from the lake’s surface after the alarm was raised over concerns that the ancient and unblemished waters risked being polluted if special precautions were not taken.
The relevant technology was developed in 2003 in St. Petersburg. Work resumed in 2005 after tests.
After the 24-hour-a-day drilling work is over, scientists are to take samples of lake water which penetrates through the crack. Specialists at the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute predict they will find “the only giant super-clean water system on the planet.” The pristine water will be “twice cleaner than double-distilled water,” they believe.
The Vostok Antarctic research station is no Bali resort. Its temperatures average around –66 degrees Centigrade. Earth’s the lowest ever temperature was recorded there on July 21, 1983, when it hit –89.2 C.
+122 (186 votes)
http://rt.com/news/antarctic-million-secrets-lake-583/
jagman
7th February 2012, 04:17
I thought I heard George Noory read a report that the team was forty feet from the penetrating the ancient lake?
Mulder
7th February 2012, 04:45
I personally doubt there's anything down there other than fossils.
WhiteFeather
7th February 2012, 15:47
Not to derail my own thread, but i had to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p35JDJLa9ec&feature=player_embedded#!
Corncrake
8th February 2012, 17:08
'Lake Vostok Drilling Team Claims Breakthrough'
Here's the BBC's latest report on this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16907998
MorningSong
8th February 2012, 20:48
Here's the Associated Press article:
Feb 8, 12:11 PM EST
In scientific coup, Russians reach Antarctic lake
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_ANTARCTIC_LAKE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
vortex surfer
9th February 2012, 18:41
This may be plain disinfo or just playing up the old "nazi base in Antarctica" tale, but it seems strange to say the least that the russians somehow think the nazis were able to penetrate 2 km of ice down to Lake Vostok to build a bunker filled with secret archives..
"Earlier this week state-run news agency in Russia claimed that an extraordinary cache of Hitler's archives may be buried in a secret Nazi ice bunker near the spot where yesterday's breakthrough was made.
‘It is thought that towards the end of the Second World War, the Nazis moved to the South Pole and started constructing a base at Lake Vostok,’ claimed RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency.
It cited Admiral Karl Dontiz in 1943 saying ‘Germany's submarine fleet is proud that it created an unassailable fortress for the Fuehrer on the other end of the world’, in Antarctica.
According to German naval archives, months after the Nazis surrendered to the Allies in April 1945, a U-530 submarine arrived at the South Pole from the Port of Kiel.
The crew are rumoured to have constructed a still undiscovered ice cave ‘and supposedly stored several boxes of relics from the Third Reich, including Hitler's secret files’.
A later claim was that a U-977 submarine delivered remains of Hitler and Eva Braun to Antarctica in the hope they could be cloned from their DNA. The submariners then went to Argentina to surrender, it was claimed."
Complete article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2095193/Lake-Vostok-Russian-scientists-confirm-triumph-drilling-successful-Antarctica.html
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