Feb 5 - Russian scientists seeking Lake Vostok lost in frozen 'Land of the Lost'?

A group of Russian scientists plumbing the frozen Antarctic in search of a lake buried in ice for tens of millions of years have failed to respond to increasingly anxious U.S. colleagues -- and as the days creep by, the fate of the team remains unknown.
"No word from the ice for 5 days," Dr. John Priscu -- professor of ecology at Montana State University and head of a similar Antarctic exploration program -- told FoxNews.com via email.


Race to Reach Antarctica's Giant Buried Lake Vostok Almost Over
Scientists to drill to lake buried 2 miles beneath Antarctica's ice
Journey to Antarctica: Mission to Drill Lake Buried Under 2 Miles of Ice
The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet's surface. The lake hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
Priscu said there was no way to get in touch with the team -- and the already cold weather is set to plunge, as Antarctica's summer season ends and winter sets in.
"Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station," he said. "I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week."
The team's disappearance could not come at a worse time: They are about 40 feet from their goal of reaching the body of water, Priscu explained, a goal that the team was unable to meet as they raced the coming winter exactly one year ago.
When the winter arrives in the next few weeks, the temperature can get twice as cold. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -89.4 degrees Celsius (-129 degrees Fahrenheit).
If the team does reach the lake water, they will bring its water up through the hole and let it freeze there over the winter. The following year they will be able to start research on what they find, Priscu explained.
While there are only a few researchers actually working at the lake, scientists around the globe have been waiting with bated breath to see what the Russian's unearth this weekend.
"We are terribly interested in what they find," Alan Rodger, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, told FoxNews.com last year. "This is a lake that we don't think has been exposed for 15 million years. Therefore, if there is life there, we're going to have so many questions. How has it evolved over those years, how has it survived, what does it look like? Won't it be exciting to find something completely new on Planet Earth?"

Hey, where's the lake? Hidden beneath nearly 2 miles of ice in Western Antarctica.
The Lake Vostok project has been years in the making, with initial drilling at the massive lake -- 15,690 square kilometers (6,060 sq mi) -- starting in 1998. Initially, they were able to reach 3,600 meters, but had to stop due to concerns of possible contamination of the never-before-touched lake water.
"Ice isn't like rock, it's capable of movement," Dr. Priscu told FoxNews.com. "So in order to keep the hole from squeezing shut, they put a fluid in the drill called kerosene. Kerosene also grows bacteria, and there's about 65 tons of kerosene in that hole. It would be a disaster if that kerosene contaminated this pristine lake."
But the scientists came up with a clever way to make sure this debacle would not occur. They agreed to drill until a sensor warned them of free water. At that point they will take out the right amount of kerosene and adjust the pressure so that none of the liquids fall into the lake, but rather lake water would rise through the hole.
Priscu was concerned for his colleagues, but also admits the stunning scope of the story.
"It could be fodder for a great made-for-TV movie,......


Read more: Russian Scientists Seeking Lake Vostok Lost In Frozen 'Land Of The Lost'? | Fox News




bottom line.. whatever's out there... has them



*edit* updates...

The world holds its breath, hoping for the best after six days of radio silence from Antarctica -- where a team of Russian scientists is racing the clock and the oncoming winter to dig to an alien lake far beneath the ice.
The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the surface of the icy continent. Lake Vostok hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.


Race to Reach Antarctica's Giant Buried Lake Vostok Almost Over
Scientists to drill to lake buried 2 miles beneath Antarctica's ice
Journey to Antarctica: Mission to Drill Lake Buried Under 2 Miles of Ice
Russian scientists seeking Lake Vostok lost in frozen 'Land of the Lost'?
The team’s last contact with colleagues in the unfrozen world was six long days ago, and scientists from around the globe are unsure of the fate of the mission -- and the scientists themselves -- as Antarctica’s k!lling winter draws near.
“When you’re outside, it’s extremely cold -- minus 30, minus 40,” microbiologist Dr. David A. Pearce told FoxNews.com. “If you left your eyes open the fluid in them would start to freeze. Your nostrils would start to freeze. The moisture in your mouth would start to freeze,” he said.
Pearce heads a team from the British Antarctic Survey on a competing mission, set to plumb the depths of Lake Ellsworth, one of a string of more than 370 lakes beneath Antarctica that may soon see light for the first time since well before Fred Flintstone’s ancestors roamed the planet. But time is running out for the Russian scientists.
“They need to be out by the 6th of February,” Pearce said, when winter sets in and temperatures drop another 40 degrees centigrade. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -129 degrees Fahrenheit (-89.4 degrees Celsius).
The Russian scientists have been communicating with Pearce and colleagues at a third Antarctic expedition -- a study of the subglacial Whillans Ice Stream mainly featuring U.S. scientists. The competing teams have been watching the Russians and sharing notes over the past few days, Pearce told FoxNews.com -- yet no one knows what has happened.
“We’re all waiting with bated breath,” he said.
Antarctic scientists carry Iridium satellite phones for communication, he said, but there are spots without coverage. The scientists may have encountered a technical issue, he speculated, or perhaps they’ve simply packed up and are travelling home -- keeping their discoveries to themselves.
“I don’t think there’s anything sinister or ominous,” Pearce said. Still, the absence of information after nearly a week has the world’s scientists worried and wondering.
"Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station," Dr. John Priscu -- professor of ecology at Montana State University and former head of the Whillans Antarctic exploration program -- told FoxNews.com via email.
"I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week," he said.
Pearce knows well enough, having spent 15 years working in and on Antarctica. Vostok is right in the center of the Antarctic platter, he said, situated somewhat to the East. To survive the extreme colds there, scientists wear as many layers as possible and do everything they can to work indoors.
The actual well head itself would be enclosed by a tent, he said, and scientists would sleep in tents as well. But they must battle more than just the cold.
“It’s not just physically challenging, it’s psychologically challenging,” Pearce said. “You’re away from your family and friends, and there’s pressure to deliver the science you’ve promised. “
The Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute did not respond to FoxNews.com requests for information on the status of the team, information that did not surprise Priscu.
“The Russians have their own way of dealing with things, particularly the media, which I respect,” he told FoxNews.com. “There is nobody to call.”
Other science institutions that typically conduct investigations in Antarctica did not respond to requests for information, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the NSF’s United States Antarctic Program, or the U.S. Ice Drilling Program.
“They are running out of time to complete the drilling this year,”......


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...#ixzz1lWOOKdKn

they about to release ancient disease thats gonna wipe out humanity

abominable snow man or Godzilla

They found Aquaman in there raping dinosaur dolphins and he couldn't let them get away to expose the truth.

radio silence for six days?

I hope they get out before Tuesday....after that they're !!ed

if anything, it'll be the !!ing temperature that does them in... -89?? That's !!ing insanely cold..

I'm sure they had some special suits to protect them, but man's technology is only so effective man.. it'd be hard to gauge how anything we could clothe ourselves in would fair in temps like that..

Kinda unusual story, but it is what it is..

Exactly what I was thinking



.......assuming there's something dangerous to us in there, what's the plan on keeping that !! isolated?

Hopefully this keeps getting updated.

im hoping for a cloverfield monster.

Good read fam.. I wonder what's in their. Things like this always catch my interest. I can only imagine how terrified they must be up their though..

Wow! Hmmm

:agreement6:Lord Megatron Shall Rise Again:agreement6:

I'm guessing that they got eaten by whatever was living in the lake...we all are next.

if they dont fully know what they are doing this could be bad lol the sudden pressure burst of breaking through a barrier that hasnt been disturbed in millions of years is definitely going to cause some collapsing, either in the lake they are drilling are areas around it that have pockets of air

What a trip. Who knows

Megatron would be a possibility lol.


But who knows? A bermuda Triangle in there? ufo? anything I guess.

something scary this way comes