In a surprising discovery about where higher
life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp -like creature and a jellyfish
swimming beneath an Antarctic ice sheet.
About 180 meters below the ice
where no light can get through, scientists had figured nothing much more than a
few microbes (微生物) could exist.
That’s why a NASA team was
surprised when they lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the
underbelly of an ice sheet in Antarctica. A curious shrimp-like creature came
swimming by and then parked itself on the camera’s cable. Scientists also
pulled up a tentacle (触须) they believe came from a jellyfish.
“We were operating on the
presumption that nothing’s there.” said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler.
“It was a shrimp you’d enjoy having on your plate.”
“We were just gaga (狂热的) over it,” he said when
talking about the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two-minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod, which is
distantly related to the shrimp.
The video is likely to inspire
experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh environments. And it has
scientists thinking that if shrimp-like creatures can live below 180 meters of
Antarctic ice in freezing dark water, what about other cold places? What about
Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter?
Cynan Ellis – Evans, a scientist
of the British Antarctic Survey called the finding fascinating. He said it was
possible the creatures swam in from far away and don’t live there permanently.
But Kim, who is a co-author of
the study, doubts it. “The site in West Antarctica is at least 19 km from open seas. Bindschadler drilled a 20 cm-wide hole and was looking at a tiny amount of water. That means it’s unlikely that two creatures swam from great distances and were captured randomly in that small
area,” she said.
“Yet scientists were puzzled at
what the food source would be for these creatures. While some microbes can make
their own food out of chemicals in the ocean, complex life like the shrimp
can’t,” Kim said.
“So how do they survive? That’s
the key question.” Kim said.
“It’s pretty amazing when you
find a huge puzzle like that on a planet where we thought we know everything.”
Kim said.
1.. Scientists had believed
that harsh environments could only have been populated by ______ .
A. jellyfish
B. mammals C. microbes D. shrimp-like
creatures
2. According to Kim, the
shrimp-like creature _________ .
A. swam great distances
to Antarctic B. has always lived in the area
C. gradually evolved from
shrimps D. has nothing in common with shrimps
3. The finding is significant
in that __________.
A. it marks NASA’S first
Antarctic biological study
B. it proves there is
marine life in the Antarctic
C. it could inspire
further study of life in harsh environments
D. it shows that
Lyssianasid amphipod is closely related to shrimps
4.. The last three paragraphs
suggest that __________.
A. researchers will look
at the places the creatures came from
B. ice scientists will
drill deeper to find more creatures
C. scientists know very
little about the planet they live on
D. further research will
be done about what the creatures live on