Gerd Jürgens

area where the ice shelf transitioned from ground support to free floating, the ice sheet grounding zone system (Science (2014) 345, 1354–1358). From their observations, the researchers concluded that the collapse was caused by the rising surface temperatures rather than by some instability of the grounding system. The authors write that their finding “adds to the scenario of instability now facing Antarctic glacial masses and must invigorate continued examination of GZS in spite of difficulty in access, logistical risk, and competing resources.” At the neighbouring site, where the ice shelf Larsen-A collapsed in 1995, biologists have conducted repeated investigations to establish how marine life previously trapped under ice responds to the newly available food and sunlight. The group of Claudio Richter at the Alfred Wegener Institute at Bremerhaven, Germany, reported recently that glass sponges expanded surprisingly quickly, multiplying their populations in only a few years (Curr. Biol. (2013) 23, 1330–1334). Full details of how life that had been trapped below the ice will respond to sudden change remain to be elucidated. Research commitments for polar sciences were recently underlined by the announcement that both Germany and the UK will build new research vessels. China and South Korea have opened new research stations in Antarctica in February. Microbes living under the ice shield will also provide further excitement both for terrestrial ecology and for astrobiology. One intriguing location is that of ‘Blood Falls’ at the Taylor Glacier, where brine seeping from a subglacial reservoir stains the ice brown-red due to the oxidation of iron compounds dissolved in the water. The group of biologist Jill Mikucki from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville is hoping to retrieve samples from that reservoir with the help of the IceMole, a remote-controlled probe that engineering students led by Bernd Dachwald at the University of Applied Sciences FH Aachen, Germany, developed with the hope of sending it to Saturn’s satellite Enceladus one day. The surface of this small moon appears to be constantly remodelled, and the Cassini probe has observed powerful geysers and detected ammonia and small organic molecules in the water ejected, making Enceladus one of the more promising destinations for a possible space mission searching for life in the Solar System. Since its discovery less than 200 years ago, Antarctica has mostly appeared as a desert hostile to all life and the ultimate challenge to human explorers. Recent research has shown, however, that the continent harbours life in unexpected places, plays a key role in climate regulation, and even enables researchers to investigate the possibility of life elsewhere in the Solar System and the origins of the Universe itself.