Keith Pannell talks with Ross D. Powell, professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at Northern Illinois University. Ross's research is mostly centered on Antarctica, and he shares with us the millions of years of the Earth's history that can be deciphered by Antarctic ice cores. Ancient ice cores can tell us what the Earth's atmosphere was like when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. And hearty microbes have been discovered in lakes under the Antarctic ice, which gives planetary scientists hope that similar microbes may be eventually discovered in the icy moons of the solar system.
Aired Sept. 6, 2015.