FROZEN IN TIME?
Have you
ever heard the phrases: "Fresh Frozen" or "Frozen in Time"?
These phrases
took on a new meaning this week. One of the most impressive creatures
in the long chain of life has been found frozen in the ice thousands
of years after the species became extinct.
In the
freezing air of Siberia, where the wind chill gets as cold as 100 degrees
below zero, Western scientists discovered and recovered the remains
of a "wooly mammoth". These creatures lived on earth thousands of years
ago until they became extinct around 8000 B.C. Today only skeletons
of these animals can be seen in a few museums around the country.
Reindeer
herders in Siberia stumbled across the remains of a "wooly mammoth"
which was buried beneath ice and dirt in remarkable condition. This
discovery brought an international team to the scene in Siberia to carefully
recover this animal.
At first,
workers dug by hand to find the animal. Then more equipment was brought
to the scene such as jack-hammers to aid in the recovery. The recovery
team ate reindeer meat to survive and worked in extreme cold and winds
to uncover this animal.
Finally,
success! The entire mass was located! The animal was kept covered in
ice while it was transported in a sling by helicopter to a cave about
2,300 miles away where it can be studied. The cave, which is located
underground, is very cold so that the remains of the "wooly mammoth"
will not unfreeze.
First
reports say that this mammoth is about 23,000 years old. This discovery
could have answers to mysteries of the lost world from many years ago.
