Research on Ice Worms Could Lead to Pertinent Findings on Suspended Animation, Space Travel, Organ Preservation, Life on Other Planets 1/25/2002
From: Dean Tinnin or Chris Murphy, 703-276-2772 ext. 0, for the JASON Project News Advisory: JASON Project Frozen Worlds Expedition Attempts to Break the Ice Around One of the World's Most Mysterious Creatures Ice Worms Freeze to Death at minus 5 degrees C, but Melt and Disintegrate at 5 degrees C Free Satellite Interviews with Scientist and Students Available Explorer/Scientist, Titanic Discoverer Ballard Launches Expedition ------ Feed Times: Monday, January 28, 2002 Times: 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. (ET) Satellite: SBS6 KU Band Transponder: 4 Downlink Frequency: 11789 Vertical Details: New insights into organ and tissue preservation, NASA's theory on ice-based life on Jupiter's moon Europa and the possibility of suspended animation allowing human space travel into other galaxies are some of the breaking research coming out of an international science expedition being led by explorer Robert Ballard. Answers to these mysteries could lie in a rare scientific treasure called the ice worm. With the use of satellite and Internet technologies, millions of students worldwide are participating in the JASON XIII: Frozen Worlds expedition in Alaska. These students will have the opportunity to study the ice worm, Alaska's most unlikely creature, called the mysterious "sun avoiding" worm. Ice worms are so strange that most people and even some scientists dismiss them as a hoax. They are found only in a region ranging from Washington State to Alaska. At room temperature, they disintegrate in 15 minutes. They live in glaciers, feed on pink algae and creep out only at night in the summer. The JASON project predicts that this will be the first time these almost mythical creatures will be observed in the winter. For complete story copy, go to: http://jasonproject.org/media_center/press_releases/press_releases.htm |