Antarctic ice lake found to hold previously unknown life

Scientists found liquid water — and, surprisingly, life — at the bottom of a frozen Antarctic lake.

The splendidly named Lake Enigma has an average temperature of -14°Celsius (6.8°Fahrenheit), and scientists had long assumed it was completely frozen all the way down. But in 2019, researchers discovered a 40-foot basin of liquid water beneath a thick layer of ice. Since then, scientists have drilled the ice to collect water samples, revealing the basin is home to a previously unknown species of bacteria.

The lake is isolated from other environments by its ice cover, and researchers believe the bacteria living there now may be descended from a presumably thriving ecosystem that existed before it first froze over, some 14 million years ago.