Robots to search unexplored Arctic for new life
Researchers hope newly developed robots will give them their first look at a mysterious ridge located between Greenland and Siberia.
The Gakkel Ridge, encased under the frozen Arctic Ocean, is steep and rocky, and scientists suspect its remote location hosts an array of undiscovered life.
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod plan to begin a 40-day expedition of the ridge on July 1. They plan to use the robots to navigate and map its terrain and sample any life found near a series of underwater hot springs.
Tim Shank, lead biologist on the international expedition, said researchers have no idea what new life at the ridge might be like.
"I almost think it's like going to Australia for the first time, knowing it's there, but not knowing what lives there," he said.
