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[Abstract:]

#1

Science / Re: Antarctica

Last post by Recusant - Today at 05:43:07 PM

I like it when I can find a relevant thread to revive. Yes folks it's time for yet another oddball science post. When isn't it, after all? 

"Mysterious Frozen Lake Is a Time Capsule From Millions of Years Ago" | Science Alert

A living time capsule frozen in the depths of Lake Enigma in Antarctica contains a unique ecosystem that has been isolated from the rest of the world since its surface permanently froze.

Now, scientists have retrieved samples of the unique microbes, which have survived in a massive chamber of liquid fresh water below more than 9 meters (30 feet) of solid ice.

This ecosystem has potentially existed within the ice blister for 14 million years, which may have been when the lake first froze over at the end of a much warmer period of Earth.

Lake Enigma was thought to be frozen right through, since it's in Antarctica's Northern Foothills, nestled between Amorphous and Boulder Clay glaciers, a region with an average temperature of -14 °C (6.8 °F).

Led by microbiologists Francesco Smedile and Violetta la Cono from the Italian Institute of Polar Sciences, and geophysicist Stefano Urbini from Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the research team used ground-penetrating radar to probe the lake's composition, detecting the concealed liquid bubble and drilling for samples of the water within.

Special care was taken to prevent contamination of this sheltered biome: an electric drill was used for the first 3 meters of ice, while the remaining layers were bored with thermal head melt and hot water drilling. These use sterilized and heated water formed from ice crumbs collected during the mechanical drilling phase as a kind of liquid drill bit.



Underwater and surface photography of Lake Enigma and its surroundings.
Image credit: Smedile et al., Communications Earth & Environment, 2024

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"The perennially ice-covered Lake Enigma, Antarctica supports unique microbial communities" | Nature Communications Earth & Environment

Abstract:

Northern Foothills of Victoria Land, Antarctica contains numerous hydrological formations, ranging from small surface streams and ponds fed by glacial or snow meltwater to permafrost lakes containing briny pockets.

Here we describe the discovery of a massive body of unfrozen stratified oligotrophic water in Lake Enigma, a permanently ice-covered lake previously thought to be frozen from top to bottom. A remarkable feature of the Lake Enigma microbial ecosystem is the presence, and sometimes even dominance, of ultrasmall bacteria belonging to the superphylum Patescibacteria, a group apparently absent from Antarctic lakes in the well-studied McMurdo Dry Valleys.

Cyanobacteria are virtually absent from Lake Enigma ice and water column although they are well represented in its extensive and diverse benthic microbial mats. Collectively, these features reveal a new complexity in Antarctic lake food webs and demonstrate that in addition to phototrophic and simple chemotrophic metabolisms, both symbiotic and predatory lifestyles may exist.

[Anyone else ever revisit the music of your erstwhile church services?]

#2

Music / Re: What are you listening to?

Last post by Anne D. - Today at 03:39:49 AM

I don't plan to make it a habit but right now I'm listening to a lot of gospel choirs singing old style hymns. Why? Because I wrote a godless "gospel" song and I want to do more, so I'm studying the harmonies and arrangements. Brings back a lot of cringe but sometimes musically interesting memories.

Anyone else ever revisit the music of your erstwhile church services? 'Cause I don't, except today & maybe tomorrow. And a few more times, after I get my new MIDI controller and start composing.

Yes, I do enjoy some hymns and church music. Your post made me think of a favorite contemporary gospel take on an old song:

  If Kirk Franklin doesn't make a person get up and move, I don't know what would. 

Would love to hear your godless "gospel" song sometime.

#3

Laid Back Lounge / Re: Jokes Thread (Was named An...

Last post by Anne D. - Today at 03:28:39 AM

^^^ That's my motto.

#4

Laid Back Lounge / Re: Jokes Thread (Was named An...

Last post by The Magic Pudding.. - January 14, 2025, 03:41:02 AM

#5

Introductions / Re: Hello Again, Happy Atheist...

Last post by NoraCola - January 13, 2025, 03:36:56 PM

Hello

Was this yours?



It is a classic.

Not mine but a good one! I might have shared it before but I don't recall.

#6

Science / Re: A Big Dinosaur

Last post by zorkan - January 13, 2025, 03:26:43 PM

Which dinosaur had the biggest brain to body ratio making it the most intelligent perhaps?

"It's impossible for scientists to know for sure which dinosaurs was the smartest, but Troodon has the biggest brain-to-body ratio of any dino so far, which is one way scientists guess an animal's intelligence. Troodon was about as large as a fifth grader, and its brain was about the size of a golf ball."

Might be like Carl Sagan's idea about humans in his book Dragons of Eden.
 

#7

Introductions / Re: Hello Again, Happy Atheist...

Last post by The Magic Pudding.. - January 13, 2025, 11:58:38 AM

Hello

Was this yours?



It is a classic.

#8

Introductions / Re: Hello Again, Happy Atheist...

Last post by Asmodean - January 13, 2025, 07:25:11 AM

Yeah, I'm pretty bad at textures. When doing it for fun, I tend to model heavy machinery and color it "factory new" construction-yard-yellow.

Still, lotsa' fun to get them hydraulic cylinders and what else have you to behave as they are expected when the moving parts move.

#9

Music / Re: Original Music and AI Expe...

Last post by Asmodean - January 13, 2025, 07:20:43 AM

All that said, musical critique isn't the intended topic of this thread. I asked if anyone else had created anything original they'd like to share. 

Well... The Asmo used to be in a band and wrote a couple of pieces of lyrics, though it's been a decade-or-so. I'll see if I can find something worth sharing.

As for your comment about the lyrical style, yes, it does make sense. When making an "anti-anthem," you may want to preserve the original "feel" of it as you see it.

[NoraCola]

#10

Music / Re: Original Music and AI Expe...

Last post by NoraCola - January 12, 2025, 06:27:28 PM

I don't have anything to present, but I liked your song, NoraCola!

Thank you!