Scientists Stunned as Tiny Algae Keep Moving Inside Arctic Ice
Scientists know that microbial life can survive under some extreme conditions—including, hopefully, harsh Martian weather. But new research suggests that one particular microbe, an algal species found in Arctic ice, isn’t as immobile as it was previously believed. They’re surprisingly active, gliding across—and even within—their frigid stomping grounds. In a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper published September 9, researchers explained that ice diatoms—single-celled algae wi