Russian Scientists Reach Freshwater Lake Beneath Antarctica

Russian scientists in Antarctica have reached a freshwater lake hidden beneath two miles of ice, but we won't get to find out what lurks beneath for quite sometime.

Russian scientists in Antarctica have reached a freshwater lake hidden beneath two miles of ice, but we won't get to find out what lurks beneath for quite sometime. The scientists won't be able to take samples of the newly discovered body until next "Antarctic Season," according to The New York Times.

Reaching the lake has researchers giddy. "For me, the discovery of this lake is comparable with the first flight into space," Dr. Valery Lukin told the Interfax News Agency (via The Times). New York Magazine's Daily Intel played up inflated the space race angle by joking "Russia Declares Victory in Imaginary Lake Race," but it is kind of cool that after decades of drilling, the scientists (pictured below) reached a body of fresh water the size of Lake Ontario under the coldest part of the planet.