Submission + - New Lifeform Possibly Discovered (livescience.com)
AstroPhilosopher writes: Scientists from Russia appear to have discovered an unknown microbe. In 2012 scientists took a water sample from Lake Vostok located more than two miles below Antarctic ice. It’s believed that this water is pristine, unaltered for at least a million years. Among the sample was a bacterium that is said to be only 86 percent similar to other types known to exist. After running the bacteria’s DNA through a global database, they could not find any known bacterium that matches the sample; they even couldn’t determine the bacteria’s descendants. At the moment, the scientists are awaiting confirmation from their peers. However, the bacterium is currently listed as unclassified and unidentified.