With 30 Meters Left to Drill, Scientists Leave Subterranean Lake Vostok For The Winter, Amid Controversy
Lake Vostok Drilling Site Wikimedia CommonsRussian team investigating the Antarctic lake isolated for 14 million years may have polluted it as they left Winter has stymied a Russian-led effort to drill into an Antarctic lake that has been buried for 14 million years, scientists said this week. Just 96 feet short of their goal, scientists had to put their tools away and wait out the rapidly approaching Antarctic winter. But they don't want to lose the progress they've made so far, so they're pouring kerosene down the borehole to keep it from freezing. Meanwhile, the scientific community is worried the kerosene will taint the pristine, untouched lake and harm any strange life forms that might call it home. The Russian team evacuated just in time - had they waited much longer, their airplane's hydraulic systems would have frozen, stranding them until spring, according to Science Insider. They left behind...