Antarctica mesmerizes scientists

Antarctica hides certain substances that are capable of revolutionizing modern-day medicine.

According to scientists, Antarctica's polar blanket contains certain biologically active organic substances which are capable of transforming modern-day medicine. First of all, this concerns incurable illnesses, reports Arab newspaper “Al-Hayat”.

The claim regarding Antarctica has been mentioned in a report of the UN in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The document urges to sign an International agreement, which would regulate future scientific research in Antarctica for humanity's sake. Otherwise, notes the document, South Pole will soon turn into an “uncontrolled Klondike”, which would attract people from all over the world in search of “new gold”.

Currently, Antarctica is controlled by only two large International legal agreements. The first one is International Treaty of 1959 and the second—Protocol of nature protection in Antarctica signed in 1991. According to the agreement, the continent is considered neutral demilitarized territory allowing for free scientific research work and information exchange.

However, among 45 countries who officially signed the document, there remain seven, including Britain and France, which officially claim to have some problems with Antarctica. Another set of nations, including the United States, plan to present similar claims in future.

As far as the Protocol of 1991 is concerned, a 50-year long moratorium on all sorts of geological research works has been introduced in Antarctica. However, according to American specialists, they plan to conduct a trial oil extraction in Antarctica no later than 2050, reports ITAR-TASS.

Source: Izvestia.Ru