WEBVTT - Is There Life in Antarctica's Volcanic Ice Caves?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbomb. Here above ground Antarctica appears barren and sterile,

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<v Speaker 1>but tucked within warm pockets of volcanic ice caves, diverse

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<v Speaker 1>plant and animal life may flourish. A steam and gas

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<v Speaker 1>spewed by active volcanoes in eastern Antarcca, one being Mount

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<v Speaker 1>Ebarus on Ross Island, and three more in nearby Victoria

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<v Speaker 1>Land have carved out heated oases in ice domes, towers,

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<v Speaker 1>and cave systems. Before the article. This episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on How Stuff Works. Spoke via email with Carodwin Fraser

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<v Speaker 1>from Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment in Society,

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<v Speaker 1>who's done research in the area. She said the caves

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<v Speaker 1>are covered with ice and there's ice all around, but

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<v Speaker 1>some are as warm as a summer's day, over twenty

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<v Speaker 1>degrees celsius or sixty eight fahrenheit. In most it's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>dark as not much light gets through the thick ice,

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<v Speaker 1>but in others where ice covers thin light can filter through.

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<v Speaker 1>In these caves, Fraser's research team collected soil samples that

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<v Speaker 1>have yielded the DNA of dozens of plant and animal species.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of the DNA collected from the caves match with

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<v Speaker 1>species of say, moss, algae, and nemotodes already detected at

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<v Speaker 1>other sites on the continent, but the team also identified

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<v Speaker 1>genetics of life that may be unique to the unusual

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<v Speaker 1>environment of these volcanic ice caves. Fraser said there were

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<v Speaker 1>some sequences that didn't make a close match to DNA

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<v Speaker 1>and online databases, which makes me wonder if there might

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<v Speaker 1>be species that are specially adapted to the caves and

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<v Speaker 1>found nowhere else. It opens up the doors to some

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<v Speaker 1>exciting discoveries about biodiversity in Antarctica. While the DNA captured

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<v Speaker 1>from the volcanic areas did not conclusively prove that the

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<v Speaker 1>sites host living forms of these plants and animals, the

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<v Speaker 1>samples none the wls leus offer a tantalizing glimpse into

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<v Speaker 1>what forms of life could live there. The researcher's next

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<v Speaker 1>step will be to find direct evidence, namely the life

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<v Speaker 1>itself in samples. Getting samples from the Antarctic volcanic sites

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<v Speaker 1>is no easy task. Once the researchers reached the continent,

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<v Speaker 1>they were flown by helicopter part way up Mount arabis.

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<v Speaker 1>They stayed in tents at least two nights to acclimate

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<v Speaker 1>to the higher elevations, and from there they either hiked

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<v Speaker 1>or snowmobiled to the ice cave hollows. At one point,

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<v Speaker 1>the researchers were forced to ride out a blizzard and

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<v Speaker 1>spent four long days stuck in their tents as wind

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<v Speaker 1>and snow howled outside. Conditions were too harsh to leave

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<v Speaker 1>the tents to even access their food stash. Hostiff Works

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<v Speaker 1>also spoke with Lori Connell, a researcher in molecular and

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<v Speaker 1>biomedical sciences at the University of Maine and a co

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<v Speaker 1>author of the study that led the team to the

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<v Speaker 1>geothermal sites. She said, it was over things Giving, so

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<v Speaker 1>we decided to save our remaining dry soup mix and

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<v Speaker 1>crackers for Thanksgiving Day. When we woke up on Thanksgiving

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<v Speaker 1>for our feast and made our soup, we realized our

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<v Speaker 1>hot water was no longer hot, just tepid. It was

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<v Speaker 1>pretty pathetic. Once the researchers managed to reach the field

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<v Speaker 1>station at the volcano, where temperatures away from the geothermal

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<v Speaker 1>sites reached minus thirty degrees fahrenheit, which is minus thirty

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<v Speaker 1>four celsius The team fanned out to various sites and

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<v Speaker 1>used ropes and harnesses to access a range of geothermal features.

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<v Speaker 1>Those included areas of soil that were heated from the

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<v Speaker 1>volcanic activity but still exposed. There were also ice hummocks,

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<v Speaker 1>which are domes of unstable ice covering a heat spewing

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<v Speaker 1>volcanic vent, and then ice towers and caves that presented

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<v Speaker 1>intricate labyrinths of icy underworlds. Among the identified DNA were

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<v Speaker 1>covered at the volcanic sites, the closest match the scientists

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<v Speaker 1>could are arthropods. This category of animals features external shells

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<v Speaker 1>and jointed limbs and includes over a million known species,

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<v Speaker 1>ranging from lobsters to centipedes to microscopic copapods. Arthropods have

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<v Speaker 1>been found elsewhere on Antarctica, including on patches of exposed

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<v Speaker 1>ground that make up the mere zero point three percent

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<v Speaker 1>or less of the continent that's not covered with ice.

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<v Speaker 1>In these regions, life has to contend with not only

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<v Speaker 1>extreme cold, but also extreme dryness. Even though much of

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<v Speaker 1>the continent is coated in ice that's up to three

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<v Speaker 1>miles or five kilometers, thickened parts and Arctica's inner regions

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<v Speaker 1>receive an average of only two inches that's five centimeters

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<v Speaker 1>of precipitation, primarily snow every year. Parts of the continent

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<v Speaker 1>do thaw for weeks or months at a time during

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<v Speaker 1>the summer, but in other areas that water is locked

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<v Speaker 1>in its frozen form year round. But despite the harsh

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<v Speaker 1>conditions that away from its coast, Antarctica hosts vast biomes

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<v Speaker 1>under the ice that scientists are now exploring. Fraser said,

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<v Speaker 1>we think of Antarctica as a wasteland, but even in

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<v Speaker 1>that extreme environment, life thrives in amazing places on rocks,

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<v Speaker 1>on top of mountains, in the lower layers of sea ice,

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<v Speaker 1>in dry deserts. Why not also in these warm, hospitable

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<v Speaker 1>caves hollowed out by steam between the ice and the rock.

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<v Speaker 1>In East Antarctica, Lake Vostok is buried under two and

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<v Speaker 1>a half miles of ice that's about four kilometers and

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't been near open air for some fifteen million years.

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<v Speaker 1>Samples taken from the lake in an unrelated study yielded

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<v Speaker 1>genetic sequences for three thousand, five hundred and seven recognizable species,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as about ten thousand species not yet known

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<v Speaker 1>to science. The scientists have also found hardy forms of

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria within networks of salty liquid water discovered at Antarctica's

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<v Speaker 1>McMurdo Dry Alleys, which features striking, blood red falls of

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<v Speaker 1>iron rich glacial melt that never find their way to

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<v Speaker 1>the sea. However, as scientists must be mindful of whether

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<v Speaker 1>the DNA they find at these extreme Antarctic sites represents

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<v Speaker 1>life that truly exists there or organisms that were transported

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<v Speaker 1>in and persisted only temporarily. Tiny tough microbes and spores

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<v Speaker 1>could come in on the wind, or via accidental contamination

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<v Speaker 1>from researchers clothing and other gear. Evidence of this type

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<v Speaker 1>of contamination has been found. Fraser's team collected fragments of

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<v Speaker 1>ash trees that likely come from Robert Falcon Scott's exploration

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<v Speaker 1>of Mount Arabis from nineteen twelve. Still, the DNA discoveries

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<v Speaker 1>at Mount Arabis may only represent a fraction of diverse

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<v Speaker 1>life housed within its volcanic ice caves. Antarctica is home

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<v Speaker 1>to more than one hundred volcanoes, each of which may

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<v Speaker 1>host its own network of ice caves and tunnels. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't know how many caves exist and how connected they

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<v Speaker 1>are to each other, because, again, Antarctica is difficult to

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<v Speaker 1>get to and explore, but there are even more challenging

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<v Speaker 1>places out there. Many scientists believe that understanding the life

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<v Speaker 1>and subsurface environs and the harsh climate of Antarctica could

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<v Speaker 1>lend clues to possible life on places and even more

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<v Speaker 1>extreme locations like Mars or Europa. Fraser said, this research

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<v Speaker 1>and other research indicates that volcanic activity can foster life

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<v Speaker 1>in extreme conditions, and yes, there is the potential that

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<v Speaker 1>around volcanoes on other planets and moons we might find

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<v Speaker 1>life even when exposed atmospheric conditions are harsh. NASA does

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<v Speaker 1>take great effort to ensure that robots sent to other

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<v Speaker 1>bodies in our Solar System aren't contaminated with traces of

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<v Speaker 1>life from Earth. Such traces could throw off results from

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<v Speaker 1>any sampling performed. Of course, a distinguishing native DNA from

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<v Speaker 1>contaminating DNA and samples from Antarctica is easier since the

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<v Speaker 1>location in question is already here on Earth. Connell explained

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<v Speaker 1>that researchers are able to take direct samples and can

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<v Speaker 1>then perform culture tests to determine whether life is still

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<v Speaker 1>active at the geothermal locations, but she and her colleagues

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<v Speaker 1>have been performing these kinds of tests, and the planned

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<v Speaker 1>to publish results soon. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article Intricate ice caves in Antarctica may harbor unique life

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<v Speaker 1>on how Stuffworks dot Com. Written by Amanda Onion. The

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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