Life that was never supposed to be there at all. And scientists have caught it on camera

生命是根本不應該存在的。科學家們用相機捕捉到了它

...completely by accident. Antarctica is not a constant continent, but

...完全是個意外。南極洲不是一個恆定的大陸，但

an ever shifting mass of ice. On average, Antarctica contains 90 percent of the world's

一個不斷變化的冰塊。平均而言，南極洲包含了世界上90%的冰雪資源。

glacier ice, and while most of that makes up the desolate expanse that covers Antarctica's

雖然大部分的冰川構成了覆蓋南極洲的荒涼的大面積

land, key pieces of it are also hanging off the edge over nothing but ocean,

陸地，關鍵部分也被掛在邊緣，除了海洋，什麼都沒有。

in what's called ice shelves. And it's what's underneath the ice shelves

在所謂的冰架中。而這正是冰架下面的東西

that's surprised us. In Antarctica's surrounding waters we find all kinds of penguins, seals,

這讓我們感到驚訝。在南極洲的周邊水域，我們發現各種企鵝、海豹。

and whales, but these all rely on the open ocean full of krill, fish, and other tasty treats.

和鯨魚，但這些都依賴於充滿磷蝦、魚和其他美味的公海。

Outside of this realm of big predators and

在這一領域的大型掠食者和

tiny krill, the masters of the coldest, darkest places under the ice shelf are things like

小小的磷蝦，是冰架下最冷、最黑暗地方的主人，如

jellyfish, worms, crustaceans: life forms that can move around, and chase after their food.

水母、蠕蟲、甲殼類動物：可以移動的生命形式，並追趕它們的食物。

Or...so we thought. But scientists just found

或者......我們是這麼認為的。但是科學家們剛剛發現

evidence of a very different kind of life under 900 meters of Antarctica's ice—

南極洲900米冰層下的一種非常不同的生命證據

that's over half a mile. A research team from the British Antarctic Survey initially bored down

那是超過半英里的距離。來自英國南極調查局的一個研究小組最初鑽進了

into the ice shelf to take a sample of the seabed underneath.

進入冰架，對冰架下的海床進行取樣。

They bumped into a boulder that prevented them from taking their sample, but disappointment

他們撞上了一塊巨石，使他們無法取到樣品，但失望之餘

turned into awe when their camera showed them that the boulder was unexpectedly covered

當他們的相機顯示出巨石意外地被覆蓋時，他們就變成了敬畏。

in living creatures. At temperatures around -2.2 degrees celsius

在生物體內。在-2.2攝氏度左右的溫度下

and in complete darkness, these ghostly life forms are the first stationary organisms ever

在完全的黑暗中，這些幽靈般的生命形式是有史以來第一個固定的生物體。

discovered under an ice shelf. And not only that, but they're totally defying all our

在一個冰架下發現的。不僅如此，他們還完全違背了我們所有的

expectations of what life truly needs to survive. Here is this community of rock-dwelling life,

對生命真正需要生存的東西的期望。這裡是這個巖居生命的社區。

seemingly thriving 260 kilometers away from the open ocean and as much as 1500 kilometers

似乎在離公海260公里的地方茁壯成長，而在離公海1500公里的地方，則有多達1500公里。

away from the nearest source of photosynthesis. We're not even totally sure what most of

遠離最近的光合作用的來源。我們甚至不能完全確定大多數的

these living things are. The team thinks that many of them could be sponges of some kind,

這些活物是。該小組認為，其中許多可能是某種海綿體。

but as for the rest... they may be totally new species! And I think it's hard to really

但至於其他的......他們可能是完全新的物種！"。而且我認為很難真正

understand from these images just how much this discovery changes.

從這些影像中瞭解到這一發現的變化有多大。

Seeing significant life like this in places we didn't think life was possible completely

在我們認為不可能完全有生命的地方看到這樣的重要生命

shifts the way we need to think not only about our world today, but also about the fossil record.

轉移了我們不僅需要思考我們今天的世界，而且還需要思考化石記錄的方式。

Paleogeologists have used fossils

古地理學家已經利用化石

of organisms like these to determine the positions of ancient ice shelves through eons past so...

像這樣的生物體，通過過去的年代來確定古冰架的位置，所以...

discovering them where we couldn't think they could be...

在我們認為不可能的地方發現他們...

means we may have to rethink some stuff. The team who uncovered this surprise are now

這意味著我們可能不得不重新思考一些問題。揭開這一驚喜的團隊現在是

faced with the challenge of trying to find out more. This sampling location is 260 kilometers

面臨著試圖找出更多的挑戰。這個取樣地點是260公里

from where the researchers can anchor their main ships so getting there is tough.

從研究人員可以停泊他們的主要船隻的地方，所以到達那裡是很困難的。

And again, it's under more than 900 meters of ice,

而且，它又是在900多米的冰層下。

so...getting samples is gonna require some serious ingenuity.

所以......獲取樣本需要一些嚴重的獨創性。

They're hoping to use a technique called environmental DNA sampling, allowing them to analyze the

他們希望使用一種稱為環境DNA採樣的技術，使他們能夠分析出

genetic material floating in the water around these organisms. Some sampling and further

漂浮在這些生物體周圍水中的遺傳物質。一些取樣和進一步

images could be taken with tiny remote operated vehicles. These techniques will hopefully tell us

可以用微小的遙控車拍攝影像。這些技術將有希望告訴我們

what these life forms are; what they eat; how they can survive there; and if there are more

這些生命形式是什麼；它們吃什麼；它們如何能在那裡生存；以及是否有更多的

Studying these improbable creatures will help us understand

研究這些不可能的生物將幫助我們瞭解

more about the life forms that may have evolved on earth during periods in

更多關於可能已經在地球上進化的生命形式的資訊。

its history where it was covered in ice. It could also help us better understand the complex

其歷史上被冰雪覆蓋的地方。它也可以幫助我們更好地理解複雜的

dynamics of Antarctic ocean ecosystems, which we are clearly still trying to figure out,

南極海洋生態系統的動態，我們顯然還在努力弄清楚。

and how these are going to change as our whole planet changes.

以及這些將如何隨著我們整個地球的變化而變化。

And, as always, studying extreme organisms here on earth gives us clues as to what strange

而且，像往常一樣，研究地球上的極端生物為我們提供線索，瞭解什麼是奇怪的

life may be lurking out there in space on some other dark, frozen planet.

生命可能潛伏在太空中的其他一些黑暗、冰凍的星球上。

So hopefully, scientists will get to explore all of this before the Antarctic ice shelves shift

是以，希望科學家們能在南極冰架轉移之前探索這一切。

or collapse in the face of the climate crisis, which could potentially obscure these fascinating new

或在氣候危機面前崩潰，這有可能掩蓋這些迷人的新的

communities that we've just discovered forever. If you want to learn more on another surprising

我們剛剛發現的社區，永遠。如果你想了解更多關於另一個令人驚訝的

discovery lurking below Antarctica (although, a little deeper down in this case), check

潛伏在南極洲下面的發現（儘管，在這種情況下，潛伏得更深一些），請查看

out this video here. Keep coming back to Seeker for all the science news that might surprise

請看這段視頻。請繼續關注Seeker，瞭解所有可能令人驚訝的科學新聞。

you, and if you have questions or comments on this discovery, leave 'em for us in the

如果您對這一發現有任何問題或意見，請在 "我愛我家 "網站上給我們留言。

comments down below. As always, thanks so much for watching, and I'll see ya in the

下面的評論。像往常一樣，非常感謝您的收看，我們將在《新聞聯播》中再見。

next one.

下一個。