At the height of the Cold War, James Bond was enlisted to retrieve a Russian encryption device and save the world from the evil SPECTRE. Times have changed, the cold war is over, and the Russians have made a  ar more exciting discovery than scrambling messages. Russian engineers and polar researchers have now succeed in drilling more than 12000 feet into the Antarctic Ice Sheet and reached Lake Vostok, a huge body of water covered for millions of years by the ice. Sampling the ice-covered waters may provide clues to life that has been sealed away all this in time. Micro-robots with video cameras and various sensors will be used to explore the long hidden lake.

Two videos suggest the difficulties of working in the coldest place on Earth and opportunities for exploration of the frozen moons, Europa and Enceladus, circling Jupiter and Saturn.

 



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New imagery from aerial surveys of Antarctica shows the development of an enormous crack in the Pine Island Glacier. Measurements indicate that the glacier basin makes the highest contribution of ice into the ocean than any other glacier in the world. This is of particular interest since the ice sheet is so large, unstable, and a large source of uncertainty in predicting rising sea levels due to global climate change. 

You can watch the impressive NASA video here:

 





Major crack observed in Antarctic ice shelf (credit: NASA)





 

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