Scientists uncover extreme life inside the Arctic ice

[jandrewrogers]

Reminds me of the ice worms[0] that live exclusively in the glacier ice of the Pacific Northwest. Also mild nightmare fuel.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesenchytraeus_solifugus

[gilleain]

Interestingly, not only are those worms _able_ to survive low temperatures, they also _require_ low temperatures:

> They freeze at around −6.8 °C (19.8 °F), and their bodies decompose after continuous exposure to temperatures above 5 °C (41 °F).

Goes to show (perhaps) that adapting to unusual environments is not so much like a superpower but a tradeoff.

[breakbread]

Reminds me of a short story by Alastair Reynolds, "Glacial". In it, scientists are studying these worm-like alien creatures that seem to interact with one another via chemical markers left on the tunnel walls. It is theorized that they're acting as a sort of distributed intelligence, although it's really slow due to the extremely low metabolism.

[gus_massa]

They look like earthworm that like to live near ice and eat algae. What is the nightmare fuel?

[MisterTea]

Immediately conjures this X Files episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_(The_X-Files)

[htek]

I've seen this movie before. I hope the researchers are safe and checked their flamethrowers for fuel.

[sunrunner]

I've seen Fortitude (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3498622/), I know how this ends (not well).

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Agent Mulder figured out what to do about these in less than 42 minutes. Well, maybe Scully helped a little...

[LargoLasskhyfv]

Which one? 1951? 1982? 2011?

[freedomben]

Indeed. The Borg are in there. Not to be messed around with

[searine]

Funded primarily by US taxpayers via multiple NSF grants and additional grants from the Human Frontier Science Program, Moore Foundation, Schmidt Foundation, and Dalio Foundation.

[DaveZale]

I brought a sample of "pink snow" back to the lab- common at high altitudes in California. Under the scope, the algae were pink spheres.

Extremophiles are so interesting

[cassepipe]

Do they have a wikipedia page ?

EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_snow

[dendrite9]

Maybe you can volunteer to send a sample to the Living Snow Project next year! It looks like they have samples from California, I've missed my opportunity in the last few years due to family stuff.

https://wp.wwu.edu/livingsnowproject/

[contingencies]

Which type of microscope and what level of magnification? Any images? I'm designing one at the moment.

[mrweasel]

Extreme life - Sponsored by Red Bull.

[whyandgrowth]

Who would have thought that they had been found before, but only now did they undertake a more detailed study.