[kach22i]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

So where are the results?

June 7, 2013
Antarctica's hidden Lake Vostok found to teem with life - NBC News

More than 3,500 different DNA sequences were identified in samples extracted from layers of ice that have built up just above the surface of the lake. About 95 percent of them were associated with types of bacteria, 5 percent of them had the hallmarks of more complex organisms known as eukaryotes, and two of the sequences were linked to a distinct class of one-celled organisms called archaea.

No big fish, no three eyed aliens, and no dead Nazi's.

"While the current conditions are different than earlier in its history, the lake seems to have maintained a surprisingly diverse community of organisms," the researchers wrote. "These organisms may have slowly adapted to the changing conditions in Lake Vostok during the past 15-35 million years as the lake converted from a terrestrial system to a subglacial system."

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3,500+ species discovered in Lake Vostok, underneath miles of ice, in conditions similar to Jupiter’s Europa
By Graham Templeton on July 8, 2013 at 1:47 pm
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/160667-3500-species-discovered-in-lake-vostok-underneath-miles-of-ice-in-conditions-similar-to-jupiters-europa

Most interesting is that the life they found is not entirely bacterial. Several hundred species of eukaryotic organisms also live in the water, including over 100 multicellular species. They even found species that are generally associated with mollusks and fish, leading one researcher to say that the lake “might have fish,” before quickly backpedaling..........................

This finding shows, though, how long life can survive on how little energy. Could life survive a trip through space on an asteroid? Lake Vostok shows us how few environments we really can discount in our search for life in the universe.

And yet, here we are. Having found living organisms in similarly isolated caves, in the burning mouths of volcanoes, and even floating in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to find life in these waters. In March, researchers confirmed the existence of a genuine Vostok-dwelling bacterium. It was a species never characterized before, which was exciting, but the assumption was that this was a plucky survivor hanging on by the skin of its teeth. Now, however, it seems the species revealed a few months ago is just one of a thriving community living in this most extreme of environments.