On the horizon: news from the frontiers of science

Why did the chicken cross the Pacific? Florida drought uncovers archaeological treasures; and planning a voyage to a deep, deep lake.

from the June 7, 2007 edition

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Drought uncovers artifacts

A drought in Florida has reduced Lake Okeechobee to its lowest levels since record keeping began in 1932. The second-largest freshwater body in the continental United States after Lake Michigan, the lake has lost so much water that, in some places, a mile and a half of lake bed is exposed, the Associated Press reported June 4. While that's bad news for those who rely on it for water, the receding lake has given up several interesting archaeological finds, including native American pottery and bones estimated to be 500 to 1,000 years old, and maybe older.

"It looks like it's part of one of the American Indian settlements that were there – people that were intentionally interred at some point," Ryan Wheeler, the Florida state archaeologist, told the AP.

The receding water has also revealed several boats, reports the AP, including a steam-powered dredge; a motorized, wooden canoe; and a fishing boat from the 1900s rigged with a single-cylinder engine.

Voyage to the lakes beneath

In the past decade, scientists have found a network of large lakes and rivers beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Now, a lead expert in these subglacial lakes says we are three to five years away from visiting them.

Mahlon "Chuck" Kennicutt II, a Texas A&M University professor of oceanography and a director of the Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments office, says the estimated 145 lakes beneath the ice may host a range of life forms found nowhere else. The lakes are important for regulating both the Antarctic ice flow and world climate, and sediment from their floors could reveal much about earth's past climate.

Lake Vostok, a Lake Ontario-sized body of water under 2-1/2 miles of ice, should be the first destination, Professor Kennicutt says. But the technology required to conduct such a voyage – which would also require sterilizing all equipment to avoid contaminating the lakes – doesn't exist yet.

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