Sunday, March 10, 2013

Life discovered in Antarctic "ALIEN" Lake


Summary

            A small Antarctic lake named Lake Whillans has remained isolated from the outside world underneath ice. In water samples, John Priscu and his team discovered the existence of bacteria in about 1/10th of the concentration in the ocean. Because there is no sunlight reaching them, they cannot perform photosynthesis, meaning they have other sources of energy. This life may provide clues to how life may evolve elsewhere in the universe, as the conditions are similar the jupiter’s moon Europa.

Relevance

            This video talks about microbes, specifically extremophiles evolving to live in cold areas without sunlight. In addition, it has a organisms isolated from other life on earth, letting it evolve separately, similar to the genetic drift causing the evolution on the Galapagos islands.

Life discovered in Antarctic "ALIEN" Lake
Author: Sourcefed. Feb 13, 2013.

2 comments:

  1. What is an example of the other sources of energy these bacteria use since they cannot perform photosynthesis?

    ReplyDelete
  2. What is the average concentration of bacteria in ocean water?

    ReplyDelete