Subglacial Antarctic Lake Shows Signs of Life: Video

Lake Whillans, the ice-locked lake located in Antarctica, has officially been reached. Now, scientists are reporting that they've not only taken the first samples of water, but that these samples contain signs of living bacteria. These would be the first signs of life ever recorded from a subglacial lake.

The team, Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) first removed the samples on Monday. They drilled a hole deep into the ice until they reached water, then sent down a gray plastic vessel which they then quickly transported to a 40-foot cargo container outfitted as a laboratory, according to Discover magazine. Researchers then squirted the lake water into dishes of nutrients and food. The hope was that something would grow, proving that bacteria were present. The test will ultimately take weeks. However, the scientists also performed a much quicker test. They dyed the water, labeling any genetic material within with a marker that glows green.

It turned out that there was indeed life. The scientists were able to see individual cells glowing green with the dye, suspended in the water. Although there's no guarantee that these cells are actually alive, more testing will be done to see if they are.

This U.S. team isn't the only one that's trying to unearth the secrets beneath subglacial lakes. One from Russia and one from Britain are also trying to tap into the lakes that are trapped beneath glaciers. The British team is investigating Lake Ellsworth, but had to abandon their drilling since it was not going according to plan. The Russian team, on the other hand, is drilling into Lake Vostok and have obtained their first liquid water samples-though they didn't show signs of life.

These findings could have implications for life on other planets, showing that bacteria can survive beneath masses of ice in water concealed below.

Want to see how the drill worked? Check out the video below.