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thepete's Discussion

  1. 6 Replies | 363 Views

    Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    This is Jules Verne stuff right here--apparently, French, Japanese and Australian scientists have found all manner of bizarre life forms in the waters off of the Antarctican continent. It's easily the least explored part of our planet, save for the Mariana Trench in the Pacific. From the article: "Some of the animals far under the sea grow to unusually large sizes, a phenomenon called gigantism that scientists still do not fully understand.

    "Gigantism is very common in Antarctic waters," Martin Riddle, the Australian Antarctic Division scientist who led the expedition, said in a statement. "We have collected huge worms, giant crustaceans and sea spiders the size of dinner plates."

    The specimens were being sent to universities and museums around the world for identification, tissue sampling and DNA studies.

    "Not all of the creatures that we found could be identified and it is very likely that some new species will be recorded as a result of these voyages," said Graham Hosie, head of the census project."

    OK, so a dinner-plate-sized underwater spider isn't fully 20,000-Leagues-Under-the-Sea-esque, but for the real world, it's still pretty damn cool. Scientists say they're excited about planning another expedition in 10-15 years.

    Gee, aim high, guys!

    What's with the delay? Why not sooner? I bet if the US government wasn't spending so much money on wars, we could learn a lot about the underwater life around Antarctica with the same amount of scratch. Of course, it's much more fun to kill than it is to learn.

    Wait a minute--no it's not! Learning kicks ass! I'd do it all day long if I didn't have to pay my bills!

    Find the original AP.org article the above screencap came from at Google News here: http://ap.google.com/…gD8UTL23O0

  2. 197 Views

    RE: Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    Wow, very cool! Er COLD. · · The creatures sound otherworldly, slightly creepy but all around neat. · · It must have been

    Tags: eco-green
    Feb 20th 1pm Reply | Tag It | Send It | in reply to
  3. 180 Views

    RE: Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    I think the really cool new lifeforms were found at a depth too far for divers to go--they instead used robot submarines

    Tags: eco-green
    Feb 20th 2pm Reply | Tag It | Send It | in reply to
  4. 207 Views

    RE: Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    Yeah makes sense, I'm sure even just a few feet below the surface would be plenty cold for divers even with dry suits.

    Tags: eco-green
    Feb 20th 2pm Reply | Tag It | Send It | in reply to
  5. 176 Views

    RE: Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    This is awesome, we have yet to discover the secrets of world below the sea; reminds me of the time I 'looked into' the

    Tags: eco-green
    Feb 20th 2pm Reply | Tag It | Send It | in reply to
  6. 191 Views

    RE: Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    Global warming bummer. I was just watching something over the weekend talking about sharks and crabs (the regular type)

    Tags: eco-green
    Feb 20th 2pm Reply | Tag It | Send It | in reply to
  7. 173 Views

    RE: Amazing Creatures Found Off of Antarctica

    Chris: Damn, uh, racists Brits! · · I would love that kind of job! (seriously!) · · Brettbum: Yeah, I read about that, too!

    Tags: eco-green
    Feb 20th 4pm Reply | Tag It | Send It | in reply to

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