Blobs and smears of microbial life growing in clear plastic disks are confirmation of a community living in a lake buried beneath the Antarctic ice, scientists studying the lake have said.
Water retrieved from subglacial Lake Whillans contains about 1,000 bacteria per milliliter (about a fifth of a teaspoon) of lake water, biologist John Priscu of Montana State University told Nature News. Petri dishes swiped with samples of the lake water are already growing colonies of microbes at a good rate, Nature News reported.
Lake Whillans is 2,625 feet (800 meters) below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. After breaking through the ice on Jan. 28, researchers are returning to the United States with 8 gallons (30 liters) of lake water and eight sediment cores from the lake bottom. These samples will be tested for signs of microbial life, which could shed light on the types of extreme life that is able to thrive in such harsh environments.
When an Army of Artists Fooled Hitler 2013 05 23 Shortly after the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, two Frenchmen on bicycles managed to cross the perimeter of the United States Army’s 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and what they saw astounded them. Four American soldiers had picked up a 40-ton Sherman tank and were turning it in place.
Soldier Arthur Shilstone says, “They looked at me, and they were ...
Why Did Penguins Stop Flying? 2013 05 23
Researchers from the University of Manitoba have shown that birds can either be very good at flying or swimming, but not both. And they’ve been studying a very awkward seabird to prove it.
Animals that can fly really have it good. Flight allows for quick getaways, aerial view hunting, expanded territorial ranges, and the ability to travel vast distances when making ...
2 Agents From Team Involved in Tsarnaev’s Arrest Fall Out of Helicopter and Die 2013 05 23
Details are few at this point, but it’s being reported via several media outlets that two members of the special FBI Hostage Rescue Team (involved in arresting 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev) have died after "falling from a helicopter" into the ocean.
The Hostage Rescue Team is "part of the Tactical Support Branch of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group. It is based ...
Exorcism? Pope Francis caught on video performing strange ritual on disabled man 2013 05 23 Pope Francis has been embroiled in a scandal after footage emerged today appearing to show him giving a man an exorcism in St Peter’s Square.
The astonishing incident between the Pontiff and the person in a wheelchair, took place immediately after Pentecostal mass on Sunday May 19.
The video shows how a priest leans across the boy or young man to tell ...
NBC’s Chuck Todd: The Obama administration is trying to “criminalize journalism” 2013 05 23 This is Chuck Todd, NBC’s political news director saying this.
From: againstcronycapitalism.org
"Why Are We Not Calling This Fascism?"
"Chris Hedges, Truthdig, joins Thom Hartmann. The AP scandal is just the latest example of an ongoing - and often corporate backed - assault on our most basic democratic rights."
From: informationclearinghouse.org
DOJ broke own rules in AP investigation
"Amid the Justice Department scandal, perhaps more ...