Lotsa New Stuff Found Under Antartica

[Dubh Aingeal]

The Globe and Mail is reporting that quite a few new species have been found in the ocean beneath the Antarctic ice.

From the article:

It is too early to say exactly how many new species were discovered in the Antarctic, many in the Weddell Sea, where ice crushed the ship of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1915. The scientists saw more strange creatures than familiar ones, says Ron O'Dor, an expert in octopuses and squid from Halifax's Dalhousie University and the chief scientist in charge of producing the first marine life census of the planet by 2010.

[glc]

Sounds like an ambitious project, would probably take 100 years, not another 3, to get a clear idea of what is in the ocean.

Good luck to them though

[Dubh Aingeal]

Agreed. With our limitations on how deep we can truelly go into the oceans. There is no telling just what kind of life is in the depths.

[Zenji]

It would also seem that antarctica would provide an environment capable of storing some species that may have been thought extinct too. If creatures millions of years old were frozen in the antarctic ice (and with global warming freeing much of that dna) it's possible "new" species are really just "old" species.

[pomba gira]

Agreed. With our limitations on how deep we can truelly go into the oceans. There is no telling just what kind of life is in the depths.

True dat... I'm always fascinated by the idea that there are creatures in the ocean depths that no human has ever seen (or at least, seen & lived to tell about it). Look at those giant tubeworm "ventlings"... no one knew they existed until a very short time ago. Who knows, there may be Burgess Shale-type beasties frozen in the antarctic ice. I want a pet hallucigenia!

[cptdeath]

they discovered silacon based life in the ocean. somewhere in the ocean there are vents that constantly fill the water with nitrogen. it looks like black smoke pouring out of holes in the ground. this has created a new food chain based on kaotosynthesis as opposed to photosynthesis. where as carbon based life in some form recieves energy from light. the scores and scores of silocon based creatures absorb energy into there food chain by nitrogen being processed by single celled silocon organisms as opposed to carbon based life.

i watched it on national geographic years ago. all of the animals look like normal stuff except without pigment or color. all of them look lucid and white. scores of shrimp what looks like an average moray eel other fish. all hugged around theese vents. but they are silocon based life not carbon based.

thats crazy huh. technicaly there not considered organic matter. but it's a whole ecosystem. can carbon based animals eat thos animals or will it kill you. the meat the blood without pigmentation would it taste like plastic or smell like it cooking.

scientist thought the earth was flat an all life as we knew it was carbon based.

[Onyx]

they discovered silacon based life in the ocean. somewhere in the ocean there are vents that constantly fill the water with nitrogen. it looks like black smoke pouring out of holes in the ground. this has created a new food chain based on kaotosynthesis as opposed to photosynthesis. where as carbon based life in some form recieves energy from light. the scores and scores of silocon based creatures absorb energy into there food chain by nitrogen being processed by single celled silocon organisms as opposed to carbon based life.

i watched it on national geographic years ago. all of the animals look like normal stuff except without pigment or color. all of them look lucid and white. scores of shrimp what looks like an average moray eel other fish. all hugged around theese vents. but they are silocon based life not carbon based.

thats crazy huh. technicaly there not considered organic matter. but it's a whole ecosystem. can carbon based animals eat thos animals or will it kill you. the meat the blood without pigmentation would it taste like plastic or smell like it cooking.

scientist thought the earth was flat an all life as we knew it was carbon based.

I remember my science professor scoffing at the idea of silicon-based life.

This is really amazing.

[torn asunder]

i watched it on national geographic years ago. all of the animals look like normal stuff except without pigment or color. all of them look lucid and white. scores of shrimp what looks like an average moray eel other fish. all hugged around theese vents. but they are silocon based life not carbon based.

thats crazy huh. technicaly there not considered organic matter. but it's a whole ecosystem. can carbon based animals eat thos animals or will it kill you. the meat the blood without pigmentation would it taste like plastic or smell like it cooking.

any links to an article about this?

[AstralCrux]

That's sooooo cool. Yeah, if you could find a link I'd be interested too.