All language subtitles for Lift.the.Ice.S01E02.The.Ice.is.Alive.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

[gentle music]

[water trickling]

[snow crunches]

[Allison] Oh, okay.

[Allison panting]

Holy moly.

I'm trying to think of
where I place my feet.

[dramatic music]

Oh my gosh.

[Allison inhales sharply]

Of all the places
they could be hiding,

they had to be down
here, didn't they?

[Researcher] Do not
drop anything in here.

There's no bottom.

[Researcher] There is nothing.

[Researcher] The lava's
only like three quarters

of a mile down.

[Researcher] Careful!

- [rocks clattering]
- [Allison] Whoa!

[Researcher] Careful,
this one moves.

Oh no. I'm not
seeing anything here.

Our typical science
spot is gone.

[dramatic music]

[beeping]

[Allison] When I see the ice,

[orchestral music]

it looks barren.

But it's not barren at all.

It's full of life.

It's full of mystery.

It's full of things that
could change your world.

[dramatic music]
As an ecologist,

I've ventured to the coldest
reaches of our planet

to study what's in this ice.

[Researcher] Oh my gosh,
it's moving as you're on it.

[dramatic music]

[Allison] Now, I'm
on a mission to lift this frozen world

to find out if the
things living within it

could save millions of lives.

From miracle microbes hidden
in a volcanic glacier,

- We can get in that way.
- That way.

[Researcher] As opposed
to having to make everybody

claw through little rat tunnels.

[Allison] to a
remarkable animal

actually living within the ice.

If there's a place to
really understand the future,

it's here.

[Allison] To bleeding glaciers

opening a window
into our future.

You can see the
obvious hazard.

A lot of this has opened
up in the last month or so.

But the clock is ticking.

We're losing ice at
a phenomenal rate.

[glacier booms]

And so the race to find out

how these mysteries shape our
world is absolutely critical.

[glaciers cracking]

[somber music]

[pensive music]

My journey starts
here on the road,

to one of the most famous
volcanoes in history.

On the West Coast of the US,

nestled amongst the
Cascades Mountain Range,

is the infamous
Mount St. Helens.

This still-active volcano is
now home to a bizarre glacier.

Its ice is rumored
to contain organisms

that could save
millions of lives

from a threat that doctors at
the CDC are highly aware of.

[Arjun] Antibiotics
are prescribed

thousands of time every
day for the treatment

and management of
common infections.

The problem is,
is that over time

bacteria have become resistant

to the antibiotics that we have.

So instead of being
able to treat someone

who has an infection,

we have to stand helplessly by.

In the United States,

there are about
three million people

who get those
antibiotic-resistant infections every year,

and more than 30,000
of those people

die from those infections.

When you extrapolate
that number,

perhaps to a global estimate,

I mean we're talking
about tens of millions

that are affected.

[Arjun] It's
critically important

that we get new antibiotics.

Which is why I'm heading
to Mount St. Helens.

Because if we want
new antibiotics,

we'll likely find them

in the most inhospitable
places imaginable.

My safety gear, it's dialed in.

Attaching my avalanche beacon.

I already have my Gortex on
because it's gonna be wet.

These are the guys
leading us into this dark

and dangerous realm.

But this isn't
Roberto's first rodeo.

I've already got the slides.

[Richard] Yeah.

You already have them?

[Roberto] Yeah,
it's over here.

[Allison] Since 2017,

he and his colleague Rick
have been hunting for microbes

deep in the bowels of
this active volcano.

[helicopter whirring]

Number one thing
on this helicopter is

that taileron back there.

[helicopter whirring]

All right, good luck everyone.

[upbeat music]

[helicopter whining]
[helicopter sputtering]

[Allison] Mount St.
Helens might look calm now,

but you should never
underestimate an active volcano.

[dramatic music]
[volcano booming]

[Pilot] We are directly over
Mount St. Helen's right now,

and there is no question at
all that the volcanic activity

has begun.

You can see smoke
and ash pouring

from the top of the mountain.

So in spring of 1980,
there was an earthquake

at Mount St. Helen's,
and within three minutes,

the top of Mount St.
Helen's exploded off

in a violent eruption.

[piano music]
[volcano booming]

Nearly a cubic mile of material

was blown off the
top of the mountain.

Along with an
estimated 57 people,

the blast killed virtually
every single plant and animal

in the whole surrounding area.

You're looking at the deadliest
eruption in US history.

It effectively
sterilized the landscape.

Inside the crater,

nothing survived,
bar a few microbes.

Even today, the area looks
to be a barren landscape,

but you can't keep
microbes down for long,

which is why we're here.
[helicopter sputtering]

Whoa!
[helicopter sputtering]

Coming up on this glacier,

there's steam, like vents
coming out of the caves,

and there's these enormous
openings in the mountain.

Just incredible.

[pensive music]

This volcanic eruption
created this enormous crater

within the center
of the volcano.

That crater is shaded
almost all year long,

and the most incredible
thing is happening.

A glacier is growing within
the crater of the volcano.

It's actually one
of the youngest

and fastest-growing
glaciers on earth.

So they're scouting that
to see if we can get in

- that way,
- That way.

as opposed to having
to make everybody

claw through little rat tunnels.

We'll do it if we have to.

So the entrance
is super chill.

Any belays to approach?

I'd just say people need
to keep their harnesses on

for rescue, everything's a
walk and it's pretty chill.

[pensive music]

[ice crunches]

But what these experienced
explorers consider chill,

is not exactly a
walk in the park.

Let me give you a look,

what our dissent into the
entrance is gonna look like.

Check this out.

It's steaming.

As you can see, there's
a lot of loose rock.

It just blows my mind that
we're entering a glacier

sitting on an active volcano.

From this perspective,
it looks pretty gnarly.

It looks pretty steep.

[rocks clattering]
[pensive music]

Oh!
[rocks clattering]

[Ellison panting]

And now I'm realizing,
why I love the ocean.

Because even if you
fall in, you're buoyant.

But whoa, this is crazy.

My heart was like raging.

[somber music]
[Ellison panting]

Oh God.

As I quickly catch my
breath, I'm asking myself

how Roberto came up
with this crazy idea,

and I remembered
something he said,

back in our
pre-expedition briefing.

[pensive music]

Antibiotics are sort
of unique in that way

compared to other drugs,
because if you keep using them,

they will tend to lose
their effectiveness,

simply because the microbes
will learn to basically

- [Researcher] Evolve.
- evolve.

And so the crisis is that, if
we don't find new antibiotics,

we're gonna run
out of antibiotics.

We know it from other scientists

that there are
antibiotic-resistant microbes

in places that humans have
never accessed before.

So if there are
antibiotic-resistant microbes present,

there must be microbes
making antibiotics.

Antibiotics are actually
weapons made by microbes.

Let me show you why.

Here are two colonies
fighting over space and food.

They bombard each other
with chemical arsenals

designed to kill on contact.

These are what we
call antibiotics.

Battles like this are
happening all around us,

inside us, and in environments
all over the world.

But sometimes, immune bacteria
can appear in a colony

that is immune to
the enemy's attacks.

Now that it has the upper hand,

it can reproduce at will,
until it's offspring

become the sole
victors of the battle.

Each time we attack
these infections

using the same antibiotic drugs,

we are strengthening
their chances to resist.

So we need new kinds of weapons.

And so I thought, well,

why not try and look at
this extreme environment?

They're the microbes that
are gonna be the unique ones

that we don't tend to find
in most common environments.

And so we went looking at these
samples from the ice caves,

and we're taking them
back to the college,

and students there are looking
to see if any microbes grow

that will make new antibodies.

[rocks clattering]

- [Ellison panting]
- Ooh!

The scalloping is
amazing and so bizarre.

But these shapes are just
proof, that the magma below us

is constantly
changing this glacier.

In the past,

this is where we hang a right
and go down to our site.

But it's gone.

Yeah, I don't think we're
gonna sample in here.

We're still gonna
go down and check out.

But we're still gonna
go down and check.

There's other
fumaroles down there,

so, we'll exchange
it for another.

But he said that,

"That area, that's
usually very large,"

[Researcher] Yeah.

has now shrunk down

to being a very small area.

Even if the site is gone,

there may still be potential
bacterial sites down here.

Roberto's microbes love
extremes of temperature.

So this thermal camera will
help us find any hotspots.

Okay, so it's pretty cool,
pointing right there.

- Yes.
- Reading -1.7.

- Yeah.
- Celsius.

- In here.
- [Researcher] There you go.

Down there.

[Allison] Down here, it's
getting really warm colors,

and we're like at 6.97,

- Yep.
- 7.3 degrees Celsius.

These hotspots are
called fumaroles.

They vent heat and toxic gases
from deep inside the volcano.

Down here in the
dark and the cold,

any microbes that generate
antibiotic compounds

may be growing using
those volcanic gases.

Ooh, yeah, this one's like
10, 11 degrees Celsius.

But 10 degrees is hardly
a volcanic temperature

worthy of our extreme microbes.

So it's decided that
there's little point

sampling this area.

So, typically
going this direction,

we have a very large
cathedral-type hallway

- that we can go down.
- [Allison] Yeah.

And go down to our fumeroles,

which are usually

- nice and warm.
- [Allison] Yeah.

But this year,

that is now closed,
three years in a row now,

and it hadn't
really changed much.

- [Allison] Yeah.
- This site,

the cave has, but
this was a big change.

So we're not gonna be
able to access those sites

on this expedition.

[Researcher] Probably not.

So we know that
things and conditions

can change quickly down here.

Either the volcano has moved
over the course of the year,

or the ice has changed.

And listening to
Rick and Roberto,

it sounds like their
greatest fear could be

that their sampling
site is gone.

While the team regroups
to think of solutions,

it gives me a moment to
think about how shifting ice

actually plays a big role

in some of my work
with ice microbes.

[glacier ice cracking]

Back in 2020,

I took part in the largest
polar research expedition

in history.

We took a team from
across the world,

to come together, to
live on an icebreaker,

and drift across the
Central Arctic for a year.

[pensive music]
[ice cracking]

I'd forgive you for thinking
that sea ice is lifeless,

but it's teeming
with tiny organisms,

and some of them have a
surprising superpower.

This is how I imagine
the Arctic sea ice,

a giant microbial storage
vault that unlocks

more and more each year.

These organisms are so small,

even a gust of wind can
blow them up into the air

with the sea spray.

These microbes are tiny.
[water bubbling]

But they're able to
attract water droplets,

like micro-rainmakers.

More microbes means more
droplets coming together,

which eventually
creates a cloud.

If we're right, more clouds
means more heat insulation,

which leads to more melting,

then more microbes are released,
and the cycle continues.

But this effect
ripples out beyond

just this patch of sea ice.

And the next time you look
up into the sky, at a cloud,

you can think that this
cloud was potentially built

by these tiny little organisms,

and that these tiny
little organisms

are now controlling
where there's rain, where there's snow.

We don't know yet exactly what
impact more clouds can have.

It could be the
butterfly effect,

rippling chaos through our
global climate systems.

That's why these icy microbes

are so important for our future.

Spending a year drifting
with the Arctic sea ice

taught me that, your job as a
scientist is to solve puzzles.

And so when you encounter an
obstacle, you have a choice.

You can give up, or you
can solve the puzzle.

[pensive music]

They have found another
entrance into that area

that will open up,
so we can access

different sampling sites
of Roberto and Rick's.

And it's down here, you can see,

and our operation team right
now is going back in there,

to mark it off and to rig it.

[rocks cracking]

Now I get why they were saying,

"The last route
was pretty chill."

This one's on a different level.

Right now, I'm asking myself,
why I signed up for this.

I just hope we find what
we're looking for down there.

Jeremy, whose idea was this?

[everyone laughing]

[Jeremy] I just wanted
to get outta the house man,

I dunno.

[everyone laughing]

[pensive music]

[Researcher] Hand me a bag.

Beautiful.

Ow, that was my
favorite shinbone.

Okay, I think I see the end.

[gear crunches]

Do you see how I'm laying?

You're gonna lay like this,
and you're gonna have to crawl

for about six feet straight.

It's like a puzzle.

Your body's the piece.

You have to just lay
on your shoulder,

take a little water in the face.

[pensive music]
[water dripping]

[Allison] It's been
squeeze after squeeze,

contorting my body through
the cold, and the dark,

and the wet.

[Researcher] Ah, feels good
when you can get straight up

and vertical, huh?

[Allison] Yes.

[everyone laughing]

[Allison] Now it's
just a casual scramble

down a 200-foot wall of rocks

into the depths of the volcano.

[Researcher] We've
found our sample site.

- [Researcher] All right.
- [Researcher] Undisturbed.

[pensive music]

We just came down this
huge rock slide of boulders,

it's pretty treacherous,

but we found the sampling site,

and this is where we were
trying to get to yesterday

that we couldn't reach
from the other entrance.

You can already see
it's really steamy,

compared to where
we were yesterday.

And the thing is, is that
there's active fumaroles here.

So there's active volcanic gases

coming out of these boulders,

and we broke out
the thermal camera,

so that we could check
around these rocks.

So, I'm gonna just point it
towards our sampling site,

and you can see that
there's a really hot spot

of about 30 degrees centigrade.

So, we're talking about
a really significant

temperature difference between
where we were yesterday

and where we are now.

The other thing is,

it's not just this spot
that's really warm.

There's other spots across the
cave, where we've been seeing

these really bright,
intense, hot places.

So that's probably why
this cave is so big,

it's because these
fumaroles are active.

They're creating this steam,

and this warm air is carving
this cavern into the glacier.

It's absolutely
incredible in here.

I can't even tell you.

It's like a cathedral
of ice, it's amazing.

Where we're standing now,
was completely sterilized.

The eruption killed
practically everything.

So how did these
microbes get down here?

[glacier cracking]

The best way to reveal its
secrets, is if we lift the ice

from the glacier.

The tiny entrances lead into
vast labyrinths of chambers

carved into the
underside of the glacier

by the volcano's warmth.

Inside, it's dark
and cold and infused

with toxic volcanic gases,
like sulfur dioxide.

But in places,

hot fumaroles fueled
by the magma underneath

can reach up to 60
degrees Celsius.

It's a tough place for
anything to survive,

but the very same
entrances we traveled,

are also a gateway for microbes
carried by wind and storms.

The conditions inside kill
off the majority of them,

but we are looking
for the rare few

who have the ability
to survive down here.

This unique environment is
unlike any other on the planet.

The conditions are so harsh
that the microbes found here,

can't be found in any
other place on earth.

These organisms are potentially
so special and so different

from microorganisms that we
would find on the surface,

we have the best chances of
discovering new antibiotics

from these unique organisms.

[upbeat music]

So we got to the sampling site,

and we've taken
some photographs.

It looks intact, it
doesn't look like much,

no offense guys,

but it's a fluorescent,
orange paracord,

and underneath a boulder is
two slides sitting vertically,

and the slides are exposed to
the air, and they're trapping

whatever microbes decide
to grow on the glass slide.

It's a very small
area, very basic,

but super cool, that it's
all like functioning.

With all of the setbacks
getting to the site,

we're running out of
time to get our samples,

and get out before nightfall.

[Researcher] All
right, here we go.

How much do you want?

[Researcher] Five to 10 grams.

[Researcher] All right,
I won't put a ton in.

Let me know what you
think of this amount.

Good.

[Researcher] It's good?
All right.

[Allison] 22 dash
three and 22 dash four,

away from fumerole.

Here you go.

[Researcher] That's
good, that'll be enough.

We're going to
take that sediment

back to the lab,

and we're going to actually
try to grow bacteria

from those sediments.

These bacteria may have
antibiotics potential.

[dramatic music]
[fire flaring]

I've never been in a situation,
where I've been asked to do

so much physical and mental
work to recover a single sample.

Oh my gosh.
[gentle music]

This landscape is a
playground for explorers.

It's not necessarily where
you think that the things

and the medicine that
will save our lives,

and increase human well-being
all around the world,

you don't think of this
place as being the source

of that information, that
knowledge, and that material,

but it is.

[helicopter sputtering]
[gentle music]

[dramatic music]

Ultimately, that's what
makes our frozen realm

so unique and so special.

The very things that make our
icy realms so inhospitable,

are what make them
invaluable to science.

Our samples are now being
rushed down to Roberto's lab

for testing.

However, this whole
phenomenon of living snow

and creatures in the ice,
isn't always a good thing.

[gentle music]

In New Zealand,

a team of scientists
is preparing to head

to the Southern Alps,

to investigate the
mystery of glaciers

that seem to be bleeding.

[Researcher] That's coming
with us on the first flight.

[Researcher] So, I
just throw that off?

[Researcher] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Allison] Phil is pairing
his expertise in algae,

with John's skills in
environmental instruments.

Together, they've designed and
built a piece of equipment,

especially for this expedition.

It's just that, there's
a construction in there

that creates the vortex.

[helicopter whining]

[Pilot] Four pegs we
turn at the Tasman Saddle,

and we'll probably
shut down up here.

[Operator] Copy that.

[helicopter whining]
[upbeat music]

This work is based on the
very significant bushfires

that happened in Australia,
summer of 2019, 2020.

[bushfires crackling]

[Allison] We all know

how devastating
those bushfires were.

So much loss of wildlife
and habitat in Australia.

The intense heat sent ash
all the way to South America,

over 7,000 miles away.

You could even smell
the smoke in the air.

On the way, it dumped ash all
over New Zealand's glaciers.

John and Phil actually
came up here at the time

to first study this event.

They witnessed these
caramel-colored glaciers

with their own eyes.

Phil, John, and their
research assistant Alex,

are flying to the largest
glacier in New Zealand,

the Tasman Glacier.

It was one location heavily
affected by the ash fall,

from the Australian bushfires.

[Pilot] From the wide mouth
to the base, six five North.

[Allison] And the
team is out here

to discover the impact of
this ash on their icy habitat.

The snow might look white
now, but if they're right,

the ash might trigger
a chain of events,

that could lead to the
downfall of glaciers,

both here and around the world.

[Phil] You can see
the obvious hazards.

[John] Yeah.

A lot of this has opened
up in the last month or so.

[gentle music]
[helicopter sputtering]

[door thuds]

[rucksack thuds]

[helicopter sputtering]

We can't really move much
around here without the rope on.

[John] No.

And although anything big
is still gonna be obvious,

there may be smaller things
that are a little bit hidden,

but just notice,

see how there's some
rocks in the snow there.

So there is an
active rockfall area,

so just be on the
listen and look out

for anything coming down there.

[dramatic music]

When we first saw the
snow after those fires,

it was caramel-colored,
and really abnormally wet

to walk across.

It was pretty clear that
the dust was changing

the albedo of the snow.

In the simplest terms,

you can think of albedo
as the amount of light

that's reflected from a surface.

Pure white snow has an
incredibly high albedo.

About 90% of all of the sun's
radiation is bounced safely

back into space, keeping the
surface and our planet cool.

But when contaminants like
ash from distant bushfires

tarnish the surface,
they change the albedo.

The darker things get,
the lower the albedo,

meaning more
sunlight is absorbed.

This means the ice
will begin to melt.

[Phil] Did you
see the ash layers

still really visible
in the seracs down?

Oh, you can even see
it from here actually.

[Researcher] Oh
yes, you can too,

and the ones further
down as well.

I thought it was gonna
be gone on the first storm,

that we'd never see it again,

and therefore it'd be just
a fleeting summertime thing,

and as soon as the
first storm came,

it would just be buried
and you'd never see it.

But two winters it's gone
through, and it's still there.

[gentle music]

[Allison] There may be
more to the albedo story,

than just the ash
from distant fires.

This ash might be providing food

for something living in the ice,

which is why the glaciers
are turning blood-red.

Snow algae are these
single cell organisms

that are just like plants.

They photosynthesize,
and living in the snow,

they're this bright red color,

that turns the snow into
sort of a watermelon slushy.

Under the right conditions,

snow algae can
explode in population,

just like algal
blooms in the oceans.

[Phil] One of the things
we want to find out,

is if the bushfire ash
can trigger these blooms.

So, we're on the hunt for algae.

[Researcher] We're gonna
have to go down over the side,

and find somewhere where
it's been blown off.

So we can see the the old snow,

which has some color to it,

and might have some
organisms in there.

[wind whistling]

[Phil] Where mate, over
by the rocks you reckon?

[Researcher] Yeah.

[Phil] No?

You mean here?

There's probably a
big hole under that.

[pensive music]

There might be quite
good if I can get to it.

[pensive music]

[Phil panting]

Be as good as I'm
gonna get, I'm sure.

[pole crunching]

Oh, we found some brown snow.

Who knows, might
have something in it.

[gentle music]

[Allison] They need
to get their snow sample

back to the field lab
to check for any algae,

especially since the
daylight is fading fast.

[upbeat music]

In the box, we have quite
an old field microscope.

I thought it might
be interesting

to have a look at these samples,

and see if there's any
kind of life in them.

[lamp clicks]

Well, there will be dust.

I don't know if
there's gonna be algae.

[gentle music]

There's definitely some dust
particles from the bushfires.

I'm just looking for
something that might be alive.

Here we go, that was easy.

Hm, that's snow algae I think.

So one of the ideas that I'm
developing in this project,

is about the effect of bushfire
dust on the algae and snow.

And one possibility is because
the dust is very high in iron

and it's already known

that has fertilized
the Tasman Sea,

and led to unusually
large blooms

of phytoplankton in the ocean.

Whether the same thing
might happen in snow?

If the forest
fire ash did that,

it would be even
worse for glaciers,

because the blood red
color of snow algae

also reduces the albedo.

So if bushfire ash and
dust fertilizes snow algae,

then the effect could
be twice as bad.

Let me just break this down,

and explain what's
happening here.

The Australian forest fire
ash falls onto the snow,

providing a tasty snack
for the tiny algae

living on the glacier surface.

With enough ash,

they might be sent
into overdrive,

creating massive
red algal blooms

that look like spilled blood.

Without the pristine
white surface

to reflect the sun's radiation,

the algal bloom lowers
the glacier's albedo.

Instead of absorbing just
10% of the sun's energy,

the glacier now absorbs
more than 30% of the heat,

tripling the melt.

So, the first step
of the experiment

is to figure out

the effect of the ash by itself,

before we can start to
factor in the algae.

[gentle music]

But up here,

you never know what weather
you're going to wake up to.

[door thuds]

We really need sunshine,

ideally a perfect blue sky
because if we have patchy cloud,

we can't correct for that,

if the light conditions
change while measuring albedo.

We can either do it
under perfect blue sky

or perfect whiteout,
but nothing in between.

I think the sun
is gonna come out

and go away again probably,
so that's not good for us.

But yeah, we'll just
have to see what happens.

[upbeat music]

[ax crunches]

[Researcher] Once
you put the dust on,

- it'll be all right.
- Yeah, yeah.

[Allison] Luckily,

we've escaped the
massive Australian forest fires this year.

But that means Phil and
John need to mock up

these real-world events.

This device creates a custom,
mini dust storm on demand.

Phil and John then use a light
sensor and a reference plate

called the Spectralon plate,

to see how it
changes the albedo.

But science in the field
always takes a little bit

of trial and error.

[Researcher] Not on.

[spark blitzes]

[Researcher]
Oh, what was that?

[Researcher] I don't
know, shouldn't happen.

[Researcher] Might've
blown the fuse.

[Researcher]
Have you found it?

Oh, I know what's happened.

It was actually touching
on one of these bolts

just sticks out slightly, no?

[Researcher] Hey.

[Researcher] Yes.

[Researcher] Phew!

[Researcher] I don't
like seeing sparks.

So we do five with
the Spectralon.

[Researcher] Yep.

[Researcher] Take it off, we
do five with the blank snow.

Just the white snow?

[Researcher] Yep.

Then we apply the dust?

[Researcher] Yep.

[Researcher] Then we
take five measurements.

[Researcher] Yep.

[Researcher] Once
we've done them all,

we can clean the
snow up after that.

[Researcher] Yep.

[Allison] To you and me,

that basically means they
compare the snow's ability

to reflect the sun's
heat before and after

they blast it with
their mini dust storm.

Then they'll know
exactly how much dust

affects the glaciers' albedo.

The clouds are just about
the worst kind of clouds,

'cause they're wispy ones.

That mean the light
environment changes constantly,

which is exactly
what we don't want,

but we might be able to
just sniffle a bit of time

where it's perfectly clear,
if we are very lucky.

[Researcher] So
should we turn this off

until the clouds come around?

[Researcher] There's a bit
of clear stuff coming maybe,

but it's not gonna be for long.

Yeah.

[plate crunches]

[Researcher]
We're not quite sure

how long we need it for.

We're just gonna try and do
it as quickly as possible.

[Allison] The
clock's really ticking

to get the science done in time,

but no one can
control the weather.

Ah, it's no good John.

The cloud's over again.

Ah, yeah.

[Researcher] It's
gonna be tricky.

The trouble with today is that

it's just coming and
going all the time.

- Just have to wait.
- [John] Yep.

That's all we can do.

[Allison] This is
just a classic example

of science schools meeting
the reality of fieldwork.

They've come all this way
with specialist equipment

just to stand here and
stare at the sky for hours.

But scientists are
famously patient.

[Researcher] It might
be all right John,

it's still going up or?

[Researcher] No,
it's steady now.

[Researcher]
Okay, let's do it.

[Researcher] Okay, pop it on.

[Researcher] We are
tentatively happy.

We'll be happy when the
money's in the bank,

when the data are
on the hard drive.

[Researcher] All right,
now we'll put the dust on.

[Researcher] Yeah,
you put the dust on.

[equipment thuds]

[Researcher] Okay.

[Researcher] Okay.

[Allison] This might be
their only weather window,

so they've got to make hay
or dust while the sun shines.

- [Researcher] Are you ready?
- [Researcher] Yep.

[Researcher] Spectralon first.

[Researcher] Yep.

[Researcher] Oh,
we have to be quick.

If not, we won't
get the last one.

[Researcher] Yeah, got it.

[Researcher] I'm not sure

that we've got full
sun anymore, John.

[Researcher] This is
the last one anyway.

[dramatic music]

One, two, three, four, five.

[Researcher]
Yep, that's a wrap.

[Researcher] I feel quite
pleased, but you know,

it's frustrating the clouds,

they just have to
be right for us,

but it's good to at least
have one in the bag.

[Researcher] It's good.

[Researcher] We've
got some numbers

to play with at least.

[ice jiggling]

[gentle music]

[Researcher] Another day of
pushing back the frontiers.

[woman laughing]

[Researcher] That's
a relief today.

We've been organizing
and thinking about this

for such a long time, I mean,

it's been years that's sort
of in the making really.

And it all came together.

We recorded something
like a 160 files,

and each file would have at
least a couple of thousand

data points on them.

So today, we looked at albedo

from different amounts
of dust on the snow.

We need to analyze
all of our data,

but ultimately we'll be
able to say what the effect

of the bushfire
dust is on melting.

Then we can go one step further
and grow the snow algae,

to see if they can
change things even more.

[gentle music]

Just looking at the plots today,

you could see it had
an effect, like they,

they physically changed
in their appearance.

So clearly the bushfire
dust speeds up melting,

and to see more or
less in real time

what was the effect of
that, is quite sobering.

[water trickling]

[Allison] The fact
that the same dust

is triggering huge
algal blooms as well,

means the implications
could be much more severe.

The impacts of that
albedo double whammy

will then be felt far beyond
just the Tasman Glacier.

Glacial systems are,

they're of extreme
importance to humanity,

because they act as
natural water towers.

So in summer, they give up
their water sort of gradually,

not in a rush like a flood.

And so that's very
useful for things

like hydroelectricity
generation, irrigation,

other human uses of water.

It's important to understand
how quickly snow melts,

and how quickly
glaciers may recede,

because it has this knock-on
effect to the way we use water

as a society.

What we're seeing now
in more recent years,

are bushfires that are
larger, that burn longer,

that burn hotter, that
are more prevalent.

They're bringing all of this
material into the atmosphere

and it's deposited
all around the world,

including on glaciers
far, far away.

What this means is, is that

there's a very, very
strong linkage and feedback

between bushfires and glacial
ecosystems around the world.

So, these studies will help
us better predict connections

and feedbacks that would
otherwise have been overlooked.

[gentle music]

Back from our mission
on Mount St. Helen's,

I'm hoping we've not overlooked

any potentially
life-saving microbes.

Roberto has downed his
crampons and carabiners,

and donned his lab coat,

which I hope means
he has some results.

You might be able to
see here, there's a halo,

a huge halo around
these two bacteria here.

So we test these
ice cave bacteria

against bacteria that
caused disease in humans.

[Allison] Roberto's Petri
dish is a bacterial battlefield.

He has pitted our ice cave
microbes against close relatives

of the untreatable strains,
to see if they can beat them.

This one here is
Staphylococcus epidermidis,

a close relative of
Staphylococcus aureus,

and which can cause
skin infections.

It's quite resistant to
antibiotic treatment.

It can also get worse
than a skin infection.

It can spread throughout
the blood to the whole body,

and that's septicemia.

And if that happens,

and you cannot be
treated for antibiotics,

you could end up dying.

So those two bacteria,

the ice cave bacteria in
the middle of those halos

are producing some
sort of a chemical,

probably an antibiotic.

Oh wow.

Is this the holy grill
we've been looking for?

We know there are super
strains of microbes out there,

impervious to any kind of
antibiotic we throw at them,

but they've never met
the extremophile bacteria

that we found
inside the volcano,

and they've not evolved
defenses against their attacks.

But we're seeing here,
could be the start

of a brand new
antibiotic treatment.

So it's actually really
exciting that we are finding

ice cave bacteria that
are making an antibiotic,

that is killing off a relative

of an extremely dangerous
disease-causing human pathogen.

It's so cool,
it's really cool.

- [Roberto laughs]
- Yeah.

We're in this arms
race against bacteria,

and we're trying to develop
tools to combat them.

As we develop more tools
to fight back against them,

they develop adaptations
to fight back

against those antibiotics.

And so, how remarkable is
it, that in this expedition,

we've found solutions,

compounds that could
save our lives today

and the lives of
future generations.

And extreme microbes
aren't the only lifeforms

hidden in our ice that could
revolutionize medical science.

[dramatic music]

I'm actually traveling not
far from Mount St. Helen's.

I'm traveling about 50 miles
North to Mount Rainier,

to find the largest creature

to actually live within the ice.

They've rarely been
captured on camera,

but this is what
I'm looking for.

Ice worms.

This footage is amazing
and really rare.

So few people have seen them,

and I mean they're a
complete mystery to us.

This is one of the only
places in the world

where you can find ice worms.

Few animals have evolved to live

in such an inhospitable habitat.

Looking at organisms that
live in extreme environments,

they have these
amazing adaptations

that have evolved over
millennia, and as humans,

you have to think, what do they
know about their environment

that we can learn from them.

[dramatic music]

Ice worms aren't easy to find,

but I'm determined
to track them down,

because I've heard their
adaptations could save lives.

Hey Scott, finally
great to meet you.

Hey Alli.

Scott is one of the
few people in the world

who knows where
to find ice worms.

[helicopter whining]

The only problem is, getting
to them won't be easy.

[pensive music]

This year we had a
really wet, snowy spring,

and so there's a lot more
snow up here than usual.

So, we'll hopefully get a sense

of what route we wanna take.

[pensive music]

So, Mount Rainier actually
is a pretty dangerous place.

It's one of the snowiest
places in the United States.

On average, it gets 15
meters of snow each year,

and with that
amount of snowfall,

there are inherent
dangers, avalanches,

serac falls and crevasses.

You can just see how intense

and extreme that environment is.

There's tons of snow, but
lots of jagged mountain edges.

So this big ice ball here
is the Nisqually ice ball,

and it's one of the main places
that has a lot of ice worms.

All these little cracks
are 20-feet wide,

and 40 or 60-feet deep.

This mountain holds most of
the ice in the lower 48 states,

in the lower
latitudes of the US.

So if there's a place
to really understand

the future of ice worms and
what's going on with them,

it's here.

[pensive music]

From the air, we've picked
out a potentially safe route,

but we still need support
from Scott's colleague Peter,

and a pair of local
mountain guides.

And it's about 2.1
miles from here,

and 1800 feet of elevation.

[dramatic music]
[ice crunches]

This mountain is enormous,

and it creates its
own weather system.

Can really feel the
power of nature up here.

5 billion ice worms can
live on a single glacier.

How do they do it?

[dramatic music]

[Scott] Well, what's
pretty wild is that, I mean,

they're ice worms,
they live in ice,

but you set them to be this
like really cold, tolerant,

extreme organism,

but they can't freeze.

They freeze, they die.

[Allison] But that's
right on the edge.

[Scott] They're
living right on the edge

of what they can tolerate,

but they do really well here.

Ooh, Scott, is
this the ice worm?

This little thing, right here.

[Scott] Oh yeah, it is.

[gentle music]

[Allison] Is it okay to

[Scott] Yeah, yeah,
yeah, pick it up.

[Allison] just keep it up.

[Scott] Yeah.

And kind of look at it.

I mean, he's moving.

So they're the largest
organism on earth

that spends its whole life cycle
in ice, so they're totally-

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
back it up, largest.

So this is the largest?

[Scott] I mean, we
would love to be wrong,

[Allison] Glacier ice.

I would love to hear about
something newly discovered.

[Peter] Glacial megafauna.

Yeah.

So every day they have
this cyclical emergence,

where they'll come out,

they'll come to the
surface later in the day,

to get some sunshine,
but also to feed.

[Allison] Life for an ice
worm is no walk in the park.

To eat, they have to
come up to the surface

to snack on snow algae,

but the surface can
be deadly for them.

Despite their name,

ice worms will die just
0.1 degrees below freezing,

and the glacier's surface
temperature swings massively

from day to night.

So the worm's time
window is small.

So where have they
all been hiding?

[pensive music]

[ice cracking and booming]

This is what is
happening below the ice.

At night,

the temperatures on the surface
drop well below freezing,

but just under the surface
there's an insulated oasis

for the ice worms that hovers
just above the freezing point.

When the sun rises,

its warmth slowly starts
to make its way down

to the ice worm sanctuary.

The rising temperature
eventually warms enough of the ice

to allow the worms to
safely travel to the surface

where the can feed.

Question is, are the
conditions right today

for the worms to
make their commute?

[upbeat music]

There they are.

This is incredible, Scott.

There's really a lot of them.

[upbeat music]

They're really just like
emerging out of the snow.

You can actually
see some of them,

like this one right here,
it's clearly an on the way up.

Wow.

It's like a meadow of worms.

[upbeat music]

These ice worms are emerging
out of the snow pack

as I speak.

It's incredible.

Just in a matter of
maybe 10 to 15 minutes,

there's hundreds of ice
worms surrounding me.

Just take a look at the
surface of the snow,

and this is just
right within my reach,

centimeters away from me.

There's ice worms everywhere,
literally everywhere.

Now that we've found them,
our work can really begin.

These worms have adaptations
that help them survive

more than just the
shifting temperatures.

Scott is studying their genes

to try and unravel
these mysteries.

There's really a lot
of them coming out.

[Scott] Yeah, let's grab
a few for the genomic work.

[Allison] Let me just
get my hands ready.

They're the perfect candidate

for understanding the extremes
of UV tolerance in animals.

I mean, they live in some of
the most UV-intense places

in the world.

Yeah, I mean,

this environment isn't just
extreme because it's cold.

I mean it's also
hostile, because of like,

there's a very, very
intense bright light

that we're experiencing,

but obviously the
worms are experiencing

at a whole another level.

Sunlight is also bouncing
back onto them from the snow.

We've done some tests,

and they're one of the most
UV-tolerant invertebrates

in the world,

if not the most UV-tolerant.

And so one of the ways that
they manage the UV exposure,

is through pigmentation.

This is what makes
ice worms so black.

It comes from the
pigment melanin,

covering not just
the worm's skin,

but also its internal organs.

If you extracted all of the
melanin from an ice worm,

it wouldn't look too different
from a common earthworm

in your garden.

But an earthworm
wouldn't last long

against the intense UV
radiation from above

and reflecting from below.

The melanin absorbs
the damaging sunlight

before it can affect
the worm's DNA,

meaning it can also
sit longer in the sun,

keeping it warm.

I'm suspicious that
these worms are doing

more than just blocking
out the UV through melanin,

that they actually have
really high-powered DNA

and repair pathways.

[bell chimes]
[cells trickling]

Damaged DNA in
humans can cause

all sorts of medical ailments.

For example,

skin cancer in humans
is often caused

by overexposure to UV radiation,

which can alter a cell's DNA
making it behave abnormally.

Interestingly enough,

ice worms live in an environment
where they're inundated

with UV radiation,

but they seem to have
mechanisms of DNA repair

that help them compensate

for that intense
amount of exposure.

If we could tap
into and understand

how they're repairing their DNA,

we could maybe address how
we can solve the damage

that's caused in cells
that cause cancer.

These elusive creatures promise

exciting medical breakthroughs.

So it's important to study them,

before climate change
transforms their habitat.

These ice worms are
the largest animal

that lives their entire
life in a glacial ecosystem,

but they serve as a model
for us to understand

what diversity exists
in the cryosphere,

and what that means for us.

What if it turns out that
ice worms hold the key

to understanding how
we can repair DNA

and reduce the risk of cancer?

That's a possibility.

We don't know yet if
that's going to happen,

but by being here and
studying these worms,

we're getting closer
to understanding

what they could tell us.

When we look at ice across
our planet, it looks barren,

but what we've discovered is
that it's not barren at all.

It's full of life,

but ice is still this
extreme environment,

and these organisms
that live on and in ice

are clinging onto
that environment,

and have these really
unique adaptations.

[gentle music]

I set out to lift the ice
off of these organisms

to understand their unique
power and potential.

And what we've seen is
that these tiny organisms

that live within the ice, have
the power to change the world

and the way we live within it.

[dramatic music]

I've seen firsthand the
changes that are happening

to our cryosphere,

and it's a race against
time for us to uncover

the power of living snow.

[dramatic music]

[upbeat music]