Happy Feet! Scientists Count Penguins...from Space!

Scientists conducted a census on penguins in Antarctica using an out-of-this-world method...satellite imagery!

In what The National Geographic is calling "The First Ever Penguin Census from Space", scientists from the UK, US and Australia were able to use high-resolution satellite imagery to count the population of Emperor penguins on the frozen continent. After poring over the data, the scientists were able to count approximately 600,000 of the tuxedo wearing cuties, which was double the number they were expecting to find.

"We are delighted," says a member of the British Antarctic Survey, which was able to spot seven new penguin colonies using the imagery from space. Part of the census technique relies on locating individual colonies, which is done by looking for large brown patches of guano (penguin poo) on the surface of the white ice. Then the high-resolution imagery is utilized to count the approximate number of penguins present.

While the higher-than-expected population is good news, the scientists are still concerned for the future of the species, as the effects of runaway climate change continue to place their fragile habitat in great danger.

The Thing? Russian Scientists Missing in Antarctica

A group of Russian scientists in search of a frozen-over lake bed in Antarctica have seemingly gone missing, and the group's colleagues are extremely concerned over their safety and well-being.

It all seems eerily like something out of the classic science fiction film The Thing, about an Arctic research crew terrorized by an alien force. "No word from the ice for 5 days," Dr. John Priscu professor of Ecology at Montana State University told the press on Thursday.  The research team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Institute (AARI) have been drilling for the past several months in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft.  below the ice sheet's surface. The lake hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.

The sudden disappearance couldn't come at a worse time, as the crew is only a mere forty or so feet away from drilling down to the surface of the frozen lake, where core ice samples are to be taken for study. The studies should help scientists and climatologists have a better understanding of the catastrophic climate cycles that have gripped our planet since the beginning of time.

The crew's American colleagues are concerned, as the group only have a window of a few weeks to prepare their camp site for the upcoming southern hemisphere winter. Here's hoping the Russian research crew pop back up online soon with stories about a five-day vodka-fueled bender...

Icicle of Death: Rare Underwater Brine Icicle Destroys Everything In Its Path

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."

A rare and bizarre underwater natural phenomenon has been caught on film for the first time and it has scientists and marine biologists alike fascinated.

Resembling an undersea frozen tornado, the brinicle (brine icicle) forms rapidly near the surface of the ocean and quickly sinks to the bottom of the sea floor, as the brine is denser than the surrounding sea water. It begins to form a vortex as it sinks, destroying or killing anything and everything that the icy tendrils come in contact with as it advances toward the sea bottom. When it hits the surface, a web of ice spreads killing sea urchins, starfish and other smaller marine creatures.

The incredible footage of the undersea apocalypse was captured by a BBC film crew off the coast of Antarctica while filming for the upcoming documentary program The Frozen Planet. Although the existence of the mysterious formations have been known for several decades, this is the first time one has been filmed as it began taking shape.