Just thought I'd stop by and rub that in.
Lake Vostok - The Robots and the Mutated Fish
Flux's article about the Tunguska event made me start thinking about another of my favourite unsolved mysteries of our planet, Lake Vostok, and what was going on with it these days.
I'll give you a little run-down for those of you who don't know the story of Lake Vostok. In 1996 a bunch of Russian scientists (think the crazy cosmonaut in Armageddon) were drilling ice core samples (to put in their vodka I'm sure) in Antarctica. When they reached 3623 m (11,886 feet) they stopped because they couldn't figure out why the ice down this deep was so relatively clean. After a bunch of tests were conducted using radar and seismic waves it turned out that this ice was actually the uppermost region of the world's largest (think Lake Ontario) warmwater (by warm they mean not frozen, it's still -3 °C) subglacial lake. It's freshwater and it's been isolated down there for somewhere between half a million to a million years!
"So what?" a person named Jason, who has no imagination, might ask at which point I'd slap him and yell "think of the possibilities, Jason!." Naturally, the first thing that came to the scientists' (and my own) mind was that this was the most pristine liquid environment on Earth... and it could be full of living creatures that, due to isolation and adaptation, live no where else in the world! So, they tested the core samples taken close to the water and, sure enough, they found microbes that have never been found anywhere else. Yeah, yeah, microbes schmicrobes... where are the freaky species of giant mutated dinosaur fish with glowing fluorescent bodies, Nessie's cousins, and aquatic Gollum type creatures!? Thanks to the detection of local seismic activity, suggesting geothermal activity, these are all still a real possibility because:
"Geological processes make it much more likely that thermal energy and minerals are coming up from below," says Robin Bell of Columbia University.
Heat+minerals=life! YES! Sorry, this shit just gets me really excited.
"So what's the hold up? Why isn't anyone going in there!?" First of all Jason, you're an idiot. There's no way they could send anyone down there even if they wanted to; especially since there's a possibility of hostile creatures lurking in the deep, dark water. Secondly, because the lake is under so much pressure, to breach the ice would be like opening a giant shaken beer can. *sigh* No, there isn't beer down there Jason. Thirdly, and most importantly, anything sent into this pristine environment would have to be as sterile as possible to avoid contamination.
That's where the Cryobot (it even sounds cool!) comes in. In 1999 NASA approved funding for the development of this torpedo like probe equipped with a heated tip that will allow it to slowly melt its way down to the lake, unwinding communication cables from within as it goes. As the probe moves down, the water refreezes behind it and once it's about to breech it gives itself a hydrogen peroxide bath to decontaminate and away to goes! Once inside, Cryobot releases the remote controlled Hydrobot (this shit just keeps getting better), that is equipped with a camera and other instruments, to go and find my mutated dinosaur fish!
Sadly, funding for the project was cut in 2003 (another casualty of war) despite promising tests. One hope is that, due to the discovery that Mars also has subglacial lakes and Jupiter's moon Europa may have as well, the project may be re-opened as a means of testing the technology so it can be used for the same purpose in future space missions.
"But that's ages away!" How right you are Jason... Right now I just want my fish.
It's a bit like England and Scotland in the sense that the back roads are the best way to see the country and you'll want to stop frequently on the sides of roads to take pictures and enjoy the scenery, of which there is a monumental amount, especially on the South Island. Many of the places you'll want to/should see just aren't accessible by coach or train and require either booking a tour or missing out.
There were some huge driving days, many of which were spent on some of the windiest roads I've ever driven (that's saying a lot after living and road tripping in Scotland for 2 years). I did almost all of the driving, but I really enjoy driving and have no problem on windy roads. Having said that, there were times, especially on the drive from Nelson to Picton, where even my driving patience was taxed.
My itinerary was as follows:
Christchurch - Lake Tekapo 227
Lake Tekapo - Mt Cook - Otago Peninsula Roundtrip - Dunedin 479
Dunedin - Milford Sound - Te Anau 522
Te Anau - Queenstown 171
Queenstown - Arrowtown - Fox Glacier/Franz Josef Glacier 340
Franz Josef Glacier - Punakaiki Roundtrip - Greymouth 261
Greymouth - Barrytown - Nelson 327
Nelson - Picton 107
Wellington - Tongariro National Park - Taupo 438
Taupo - Orakei Korako Thermal Park - Rotorua 106
Rotorua - Wai-o Tapu Thermal Park - Hobbiton - Auckland 385
All up it was 3363km rounded to approx. 3500km including misc. driving.
A couple of photos to whet your appetite
See more here if you're interested!
There's people I wish I had time to meet down there but I'm pretty much only there for 2 days. Still, if I move there it'll all be good!
