Scientists in Antarctica have found life flourishing in some of the most inhospitable conditions on Earth. After drilling through more than half a mile of ice, researchers plunged a camera another 1,600 feet down to the Antarctic seafloor and were stunned to discover sponge-like animals clinging to rocks.
Their findings, published in a recent study in the journal “Frontiers in Marine Science,” include several potentially new species.
Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with Huw Griffiths, a marine biogeographer with the British Antarctic Survey and the study’s lead author.
Accidental discovery of extreme life | British Antarctic Survey
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
