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![]() Thursday, March 26, 1998 Published at 16:10 GMT ![]() ![]() Sci/Tech ![]() Ancient microbes found at south pole ![]() Antarctic microbe /NASA ![]() Fungal spores, algae and bacteria that have been trapped in Antarctic ice for possibly 400,000 years have been discovered and some of them may be in suspended animation capable of coming back to life. Our science correspondent David Whitehouse reports: Since 1974 scientists at Russia's Vostok ice station situated at the very center of Antarctica have been extracting ice cores from the polar ice cap. Drilling down 12,000 ft (3600 metres) they have brought to the surface ice that was formed 400,000 years ago.
It is well known that bacteria can survive for hundreds of thousands of years in the permafrost of Siberia so there is a chance that scientists could coax the ancient bacteria back to life.
Exploring Lake Vostok will help them search for signs of life on Mars and on the frozen ice worlds of the outer solar system. ![]() |
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