Scientists evaluating images taken by NASA’s Landsat 7 and 8 satellites (also known as the Earth Observation program) in Siberia received an unusual detail. It is in each picture that there seems to be a giant “tadpole” and it is growing, next to it there is a very large cave. It is known that the time to take these photos is from 1999 to 2015. However, after discovering the growth of this “tadpole”, scientists immediately issued a warning. Why?
In fact, the pictures taken by NASA satellites are not giant “tadpoles”, but rather a sinkhole called Batagaika. Batagaika is one of the largest sinkholes in the world. It is located in the Verkhoyansk district in northeastern Siberia of Russia. According to NASA scientists, the first signs of Batagaika’s formation date back to the early 1970s.
On August 27, 1999, the Batagaika sinkhole officially appeared. The original Batagaika sinkhole was about 1 km long and 90 m deep. According to photos taken from 1999 to 2015, it seems to be constantly expanding. According to researcher Frank Günther of the Alfred Wegener Research Institute (Germany), the average expansion of Batagaika sinkhole is 10 m per year. However, in fact, according to the image of remote sensing equipment, the crater is opening from 20 to 30 m per year.
In fact, the “tadpole” that NASA captured is the Batagaika sinkhole in Siberia. (Photo: Science)
The reason the Batagaika sinkhole appeared has been determined to be due to global warming causing the permafrost to melt and the soil above it to break. Thanks to the formation of the Batagaika sinkhole, archaeologists had the opportunity to find the skeletons of mammoths, musk cows, woolly rhinoceros, cave lions… From what was found, they believe that the unexplained of the paleontological world will soon be discovered. However, that’s not all.
Beneath the Batagaika sinkhole, archaeologists have found many skeletons of ancient animals. (Photo: Baidu)
In a study published in the journal Current Biology on June 7, 2021, scientists collected a strange specimen in the permafrost of Siberia. After the researchers drilled to a depth of 3.5 meters below the surface of the Alazeya River, they found rotifers of the genus Adineta in a state of metabolomics. Carbon isotope dating results show that this type of rotifer is about 24,000 years old.
Remarkably, after being thawed in the laboratory, these rotifers came back to life and continued to reproduce parthenogenetically. In particular, the new rotifers are genetically identical to the ancient rotifers. According to previous studies, this microorganism can only survive up to a decade after being frozen.
Magnified image of 24,000-year-old ancient rotifers found in Siberia. (Photo: Baidu)
Finally, scientists have found the answer to the mechanism of long-term survival of ancient rotifers. Stas Malavin, an expert at SCL Laboratory (Russia) said, “Ancient rotifers can live in extreme environments thanks to a mechanism of ‘freezing’ all activities and stopping metabolism. This state is similar to how hides life and lies between life and death.”
Rotifers are multicellular invertebrates. They are famous for their ability to resist radiation, withstand harsh environments without oxygen and without food. And this is a finding that causes scientists to generate more worrying theories.
Danger from ancient speciesThe reason is due to the increasing appearance of sinkholes in Siberia and many places on Earth. Of course, they are all the result of the rising average temperature of the Earth under the influence of the greenhouse effect, which has led to the rapid melting of the Siberian permafrost.
The ever-expanding Batagaika sinkhole is due to global warming. (Photo: Baidu)
In addition, humans have only appeared on Earth for a few hundred thousand years and microorganisms have been present on Earth since the planet’s formation about 3.8 billion years ago. Scientists fear that if the Siberian permafrost melts and more sinkholes appear, as well as the melting of glaciers in North and Antarctica, it will release a variety of ancient microorganisms.
Scientists worry that below the Batagaika sinkhole is a giant permafrost that has existed since the Ice Age to the present. The low-temperature environment of the Batagaika crater kept some ancient creatures alive in a state of hibernation. Melting ice will bring back ancient microorganisms and ancient viruses. If some ancient viruses also have the ability to live as tenacious as rotifers, they will be a great disaster for humanity.
Because they can be viruses that can harm humans. As for the ancient viruses, the human immune system is unlikely to be able to cope with them. With just a little carelessness, humanity could be wiped out by these viruses. And the truth is that in 2016, an anthrax outbreak in Siberia killed more than 2,000 reindeer and left 96 people hospitalized. Germ spores that were determined to have escaped from the carcass of an infected deer were exposed when the permafrost that preserved it melted.
Scientists fear that, beneath the permafrost in the Batagaika sinkhole, there are many ancient viruses that are capable of causing problems for humanity. (Photo: Baidu)
In addition, in drilling 50 meters deep into the permafrost layer on a river in Tibet, Chinese and American scientists found 33 strains of ancient viruses. Analysis results show that out of these 33 strains, up to 28 viruses have never been identified by scientists. They are all viruses that lived during the Ice Age about 15,000 years ago.
Although they later confirmed that they are not capable of causing death, there are still many other pathogens that may still be living in permafrost around the world, not just in the Batagaika sinkhole. We still do not know whether these ancient viruses after being released can pose any danger to humanity? Those are the mysteries that humanity needs to find answers to.