Life thrives under Antarctica

摘要

The popular image of Antarctica as a frozen, almost lifeless desert needs a makeover. For the first time, water from a lake beneath the ice has been found to harbour a vibrant microbial ecosystem. "Our discovery proves that water is habitable space, even if it's at sub-zero temperatures and there is no sunlight," says John Priscu of Montana State University in Bozeman. He co-led the US team that drilled into Lake Whillans, 800 metres beneath the west Antarctic ice sheet. The finding is good news for astrobiologists hoping to discover life elsewhere in the solar system: in the ocean beneath the frozen surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, for instance, or clinging on under the Martian polar ice caps.