Russians Reach the Bottom of Lake Baikal, Fail to Set World Record

According to Peter Rona from Rutgers University, there might be something unusual going on a mile beneath the surface of Lake Baikal—An ocean being born. To take a peek, Russian scientists have gone all the way to the bottom of Baikal. Anatoly Sagalevich, Artur Chilingarov, and others boarded MIR 1 and MIR 2, submersible vessels that could carry them a mile below the surface. (Director James Cameron used the same vehicles to film the wreckage of the Titanic for his film; last year MIR 1 and 2 carried Russian scientists to the sea floor beneath the North Pole.) Baikal, located in Southeastern Russia, is both the world's deepest and oldest lake; it contains 20 percent of the planet's surface freshwater, and dates back 25 million years. That's an eternity for a lake—which tends to fill up after only 10,000 to 15,000 years. Russian news sources are reporting that the crafts ...