Antarctica Has a “Bleeding” Glacier | NOVA PBS

Did you know that Antarctica has a glacier that bleeds red? (At least, that’s what it looks like.) Originally published in 2020 on‪‪​⁠ @pbsterra 🇦🇶 Five stories high and emerging from the Taylor Glacier in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, Blood Falls seeps into an ice-covered body of water called Lake Bonney. It’s one of the continent’s most enigmatic natural features and has fascinated scientists for decades. What makes it red? Does it always flow? And can anything actually survive near it? To find out—and see just how bizarre Blood Falls is with their own eyes—Caitlin and Arlo travel to the Dry Valleys, about 60 miles from McMurdo Station. There, they meet with microbiologist Jill Mikucki and hydrogeologist Peter Doran to investigate why this glacier looks the way it does, what lives there (spoiler: CHARISMATIC MICROBES!), and what clues it holds for finding and understanding life on other planets and moons in our solar system, like Mars, Jupiter’s Europa, and Saturn’s Enceladus. Answering these questions, it turns out, requires lots of probes, cameras, and even a massive sensor hanging from a helicopter. 📰 Stay up to date on the latest science discoveries, full episodes, articles, videos, and more by signing up for NOVA's newsletter here: https://to.pbs.org/4brCC7Y ▶️ Stream NOVA documentaries & more with PBS Documentaries on Prime Video: https://amzn.to/4hXBlsu 💙 Help us bring the universe closer to home. Your donation ensures that NOVA’s deep-space discoveries and quantum physics explorations remain free and inspiring for the next generation of scientists. Support fact-based storytelling today. https://bit.ly/48UnsrD 🌟 Follow on social for more NOVA content Twitter: https://twitter.com/novapbs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novapbs TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@novapbs