The scientists are amazed because small algae continues to move inside the ice in the Arctic

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Scientists know that microbial life can live under some harsh conditions –Including, we hope, the harsh Mars weather. But new research indicates that a specific microbe, a type of algae found in the ice in the Arctic, is not unprecedented as previously thought. They are amazingly active, sliding – and even inside – the reasons for frozen stousi.

In the facts of the National Academy of Sciences paper Researchers were published on September 9, and the researchers explained that ice dratops-algae with ice cells with glass external walls-dance in ice. This dismissed activity challenges the assumptions that the microbes that live in extremist or identical environments are barely going through. If anything, these algae evolved to flourish despite the harsh conditions. The wonderful navigation of this microbial also hints to an unexpected role that they may play in preserving the environment in the Arctic.

Mano Prakash, the great author of the study and vital engineering at Stanford University, said in A. statement. “Demopians are active and we can imagine that temperatures decrease to -15 ° C (5 degrees Fahrenheit), which is very surprising.”

This temperature is the lowest ever for a real -core cell such as Debiatom, as researchers claim. Surprisingly, diatoms of the same type of warmer environment have not shown the same skiing behavior as ice diatoms. This means that the maximum life of the North Pole -pole federations generated a “evolutionary advantage”, they added.

Exclusive in the Arctic

For the study, the researchers collected ice cores from 12 stations throughout the Arctic in 2023. They conducted a preliminary analysis of the core using the microscope on board the ship, creating a comprehensive image of the small community inside the ice.

To get a clearer photo about how and why these diets ski, the team sought to repeat the circumstances of the essence of ice inside the laboratory. Prepare a Petri dish with thin layers of fresh, frozen water and very cold salty water. The team even donated their hair threads to imitate the microplolic channels in the ice in the Arctic, which expels the salt from the frozen system.

As they expected, the diatoms were slided happily through a Petri dish, using hair threads as “fast ways” during its routine. More analysis allowed researchers to track and determine how the microbes completed their ice trick.

Lotted ice routine with a cut pole
The researchers have developed and used private microscopes and experimental environments to track how diatoms move across ice. Credit: Prakash Laboratory/Stanford University

“There is a polymer, a type of mucus like a snail, uniformly adhering to the surface, like a rope with an anchor,” explained by Cheng Chang, a major study author and post -doctoral student in Stanford, in the same version. “Then they withdraw the” rope “, and this gives them the power to move forward.

A small body, a huge presence

If we are talking about numbers, algae may be among the most abundant organisms in the Arctic. To put it in its correct perspective, the “absolute green” Arctic water appears in the drones due to algae, as Prakash explained.

The researchers have not yet determined the importance of skiing on the diatom. However, knowing that they are more active than we believed might mean that small skiers contribute without knowing how resources are rotated in the Arctic.

“To some extent, you make you realize that this is not just a very small thing; this is an important part of the food chain and controls what is happening under the ice.”

This is a great departure from what we often believe – a major food source for other larger creatures. But if this is true, scientists will help collect new visions in the environment that is difficult to avoid in the Arctic, especially since climate change threatens its existence. The timing of this result shows that to understand what exceeds the Earth, we first need to protect and monitor what is already here.



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