After 15,000 years, it's waking up 

A government dug top secret permafrost research project on the dangers of thousand year old bacteria sounds like the perfect start to a horror novel. Fascinating video!

On a lighter note, I just want to say that Iong ago, I was once assigned to dig a hole for a septic system. With a simple shovel, in AK, as a rookie fishing guide. I kept wondering why the bosses kept checking in... Hitting solid ice at about 2-3 feet, I figured out this may be a prank... It was like hitting steel. After the veteran dudes got the laughs, they brought in the backhoe... AK has basically built on the permafrost, in my 25+ years, I have dug other holes, it is changing...

There is another tunnel into permanently frozen ground is found on Svalbard Island in Norway. At nearly 80 deg north the Global Seed Vault protects crop seeds for the future away from war, decease and more. In recent years there was a flood incident where larger amounts of water than expected entered the entry but this issue has since been resolved but illustrates that the permafrost is more prone to melting than realized only a few years ago.

Diana, I don’t mean to be rude but I think I have watched ALLLLLLL of your videos at least a million times, I have listened to every utterance of awe through your voice and then my own as I see what amazed you on my small window into your unique prospective of our world, which fills me with wonder and joy, and that brings me to the request that may seem rude as it will take up your time. I would request that once you’ve kicked this illness and take a minute or two to take a deep breath, or two, and give your husband a big hug from all of us, that once the formalities are sorted will you please, and this is the selfish part, will you please be so kind as to continue taking your film crew/family (I’m certain anyone who is around you becomes like family pretty quickly) everywhere you go so we too can experience the absolute childlike wonder at everything that encourages and enables the wisdom that you exude in quite, again I apologize, quite an annoying amount for someone so damn young. I apologize, it’s just that we miss you,… and cannot wait to see you up and running like usual. Be safe, we love you both! Your fans.

I grew up about 10 minutes away from this area on Goldstream Road. I was totally geeking out while I watched this seeing images from my hometown. I had to pass that collapsing house nearly every day on the way to town. One of my buddies in jr. high school lived in that same area and their house was also folding down the middle just like that. Thanks for a little visit back home.

My uncle is a frozen ground structural engineer. He has analyzed a couple buildings in Alaska where the pilings were failing. He said ice is not just a solid. The colder the ice the stronger it is. So buildings built 50 years ago that did strength calculations at -20 degrees will fail if the ice warms to -10 degrees.

We did resistivity surveys in the Arctic back in the seventies and we measured 2400 ft. Of perma frost depth. The depth was important for siezemic measurements looking for oil. When mining in the NWT the first three levels at 150 ft per level were frozen solid, filled with ice and the temp got warmer as you go down. At a level of a mile down the temp was in the 90's

I hope you are recovering. I was down for a year for torn ligaments and I'd become so weak. I know the climb to strength and health is difficult and sympathize with your illness, that was more devastating than mine. Good luck and vibes to you.

The anthrax outbreak in Russia reminded me of a movie from 20 or 30 years ago. There was an outbreak of a disease, supposedly the Spanish flu, and they went to Siberia and exhumed a couple graves of victims from perma-frost to get living samples to work with. I know the science was iffy at best, but the premise was possible.

I lived in Fairbanks for 7 years and got a chance to go into the tunnel when it was briefly opened to the public. It's a fascinating place. I can definitely vouch for the smell.

It's pretty common for houses to collapse from permafrost melt. There are indicators of where permafrost is closer to the surface so houses are build on pilings or adjustable posts to account for the fluctuation in stability. A large number of houses up here are DIY houses though so some people don't take the precautions.

First time watching one of your videos, I love how real and chill you are! Thanks for the content 😊

I was just talking to my friend about the lack of frozen dirt content on RU-vid and then.... Love your videos. Keep up the great work!

Actually there is a whole system of tunnels and such that reach the permafrost layer in many cities in Siberia. In particular Yakutsk has also made a museum going into the permafrost layer due to how they build houses.

I am thrilled to have stumbled across this channel. I Love learning. Thank you Physics Girl.

This is a fascinating video!! I love your content !! Keep up the great work!!!

Not the only permafrost tunnel, I have been in one dug in the ground below Tuktayuktuk. The locals have dug a tunnel with rooms they use as freezers for storing their meat during the summer. It had some of the most amazing frost and ice crystals forming on the walls.

I really like Amanda. She's so chill about awesome and terrible things.

One event that may interest is from the island Gruinard off Scotland. In 1942 it was used to test the effect of a virulent strain of Anthrax. It worked a bit to well. The island was quarantined for decades until in 1986 it was decontaminated with 280 tonnes of formaldehyde allowing it to finally be safe for humans again in 1990 after 48 years in quarantine 😱

I have spent by entire career as a research scientist and discover something new in each video. Hands down, the best channel out there.

Thanks for bringing some attention to this. As a civil engineer in Alaska, I can attest to this being a big deal. Love your videos!

“Coolest” episode in a while. A lot of videos on this channel overlap with topics I’m already familiar with, but it is episodes like this, introducing me to something new or something I haven’t thought about in ages, that is why I love this channel!

This just took me 50,000 years or so into the past. Thanks for sharing and I'm glad I learned about this.

I watched this before….fascinating. Loved seeing it again. You’ve got this Diana❤

Dr. Barker's voice and energy totally changed when the video went from her being "tour guide mode" to "hey explain your research to me mode". It's so dope to see someone explain their projects.

I think I would have become a scientist if I had of had teachers as passionate and gifted as you at school. This is a truly insightful and educational video - cheers

Interesting to hear about the use of soil resistivity measuring. I design lightning protection systems as well as the below ground earthing systems for electrical substations and those sorts of readings are a critical piece of input data for the simulations that I run on an earthing system prior to it being installed.

Hi! New subscriber here. Fascinating video! Thank you for sharing! I’m gonna marathon a few more of your videos now, I have some catching up to do! :)

Serious question Dianna, when you (or any other scientist) go on trips like this (with being exposed to old microbes, or being exposed to stuff the normal person isn't going to come across), what's required for vaccines, medical check-ups, stuff like that? Is there a decontamination process? Even if most microbes are safe, what happens if you get a cough a week later? Any big protocols?

I drive past the Permafrost Tunnel almost every day. It was so great to see my home area here and to actually find out more about what they do in that tunnel. Glad your enjoyed your trip to our little slice of ice in Alaska. Come back in the summer someday.

Ooh, so cool to see this video (even if it only popped into my feed a year late)! I've been in to that tunnel... in 1998 when I was a PhD student, visiting my mate who was doing a post-doc studying the melting of the perma-frost! I can still remember seeing frozen bones and being able to "walk back in time" as you go deeper and deeper.

Amazing... I was aware of the issues caused by the melting of Therma frost in places like Alaska, but to actually go deep into tunnels and actually see the effects of sublimating close up was eye-opening. We really have a huge problem...

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was Ghostbusters. Specifically, Egon. My favorite line was... I study moles, spores, and funguses. My biggest fear with studying permafrost is that we accidentally unleash an ancient bacteria, virus, mold, spore, or fungus that's deadly. You know, kind of like The Andromeda Strain.

i’ve noticed a lot of people confuse “science” with the information that it produces- gravity isn’t science, for instance, it was theorized and proven *using* science. science is a practice and i’m glad to see you emphasize that in your videos

I love these videos. Your so easy to listen to. So passionate. 😃. Thank you for sharing the knowledge.

I am so glad that I came across your channel.. thank you

Fun Fact: Most Canadians that live in northern areas of Canada, are infinitely aware of what permafrost is, and how it affects your life! I remember learning about it in several of my high school Geography and Social studies classes!

Finally the video about frozen dirt I've been looking for all my life! ;) On a serious note, while the reasons and implications of melting permafrost are disconcerting to say the least, the whole "opening an ice age time capsule" aspect is really fascinating.

Great video. Keep up the awesome work. Thank you

A great video. Very well presented, clear and informative 👏👏👏, who knew!

Parenthetically, when Army engineers were figuring out the DEW Line up north, they had to freeze the foundations because they melted the surrounding permafrost. Fascinating, Physics Girl.

The smell in this tunnel begs this question: when you smell something, that means that molecules of that "something" are being released into the surrounding air. Would there not therefore be some sort of risk in breathing in this air? If permafrost anthrax can be unearthed and contaminate deer in Russia, could the smell of organic material actually contaminate one who breathes it in? (i apologize if this topic has been covered already.)

You are amazing.... I'm so intrigued by what you do. You a stunning person and I love your work... 🥳🥳🌹

Very exciting video. Would love to visit the place along with physics girl.

I spent several weeks in the arctic oil fields near Dead Horse, Alaska in the mid-90s. At one of the drill sites, I retrieved a chunk of permafrost that had just been brought to the surface from a level about 1,000 feet down. I still have it in my freezer. Very cool to be able to hold something that contains plant material from tens of thousands of years ago.

I work at the main lab for this location in NH. We work every day with a team that's up there in Alaska. Awesome to see more awareness about this work!

Wow! This video was truly amazing! Thank you so much!

Thank You for this video. Congratulations for Your channel.

In the early 1900s there was an extreme outbreak of anthrax that killed massive amounts of reindeer. Due to the permafrost, they couldn't be buried too deep, and there are over 7,000 shallow graves full of more than a million dead reindeer. I think it's safe to say that the main disease that [melting] permafrost causes is outbreaks of anthrax. Though other diseases are possible as well.

as always, 100% entertaining, as well as 100% out of the blue randomness in topic! ❤️

Thank you so much! What a great video you made

WoW! Fascinating information. Thank you for sharing.

That was great - thanks! I lived in Fairbanks from 1978 to 1986 and permafrost was a really big deal even back then. Plenty of roads and buildings were trashed by melting permafrost. The Alyeska Pipeline uses a very creative natural refrigeration cycle in its pilings to super-freeze the ground around the pilings every winter.

Thank you, made a statement few months ago about how permafrost wasn't being considered or talked about enough and how serious this situation really is. The more we discover and learn from. The more we realize how much of a cycle mother nature is really following. We'rejust ants on the hill along for a ride. At this point we may be learning but still insignificant..

Love your films...sending prayers for you to regain your health xx

Can’t wait for your next video. Looove your vids!

That's our Physics girl, always going above, beyond and below to bring us the good stuff!

This is exactly the type of videos I come to your channel to watch. Things in science I had no idea about. They are fascinating. Please keep up the awesome work that you do Diana! Thank you so much.

I really wish I had been strong academically in maths and sciences. They are so fascinating and every time I watch 1 of your videos I am envious. There is just so much knowledge out there so many fascinating things that I was never even aware of that I learned from watching your videos. Thank Thank you so much for sharing that it's truly appreciated and it's a great learning experience

I missed this one.... Thanks Dianna.... ❤️

love your stuff. I was the monster nerd in my family. Took everything apart to see how it worked, just couldn't get it back together, to the consternation of my parents. Now I'm a retired engineer and can take stuff apart and get it back together. You ROCK, love your channel. Thank you

I've seen discussions about Canadian and Alaskan permafrost "melting" and releasing methane, and that being a huge problem for a runaway global warming problem. But I haven't seen discussions about how deep the frozen water goes under this and how that could absolutely wreck infrastructure. Or microbes waking up. Well ... I mean other than in a few select horror movies like "The Thing". And ... I think it was "Trapped" maybe? (Some TV show in ... Scandinavia? With English subtitles? Maybe?) Anywho, thanks for putting it all on one plate of horrors! Finding a sabertooth tiger sure would be cool though. We can go to the moon, and soon put boots on Mars, but we don't even understand our own planet. Sheesh! LOL

Very very outstanding video young lady. Great job. Keep up the good work. Thanks a lot friend. SC Navy vet

Awesome info! Glad to see you are doing well and no longer sick! ❤

I love how excited you get to be learning new things and then to be sharing it all with us, keep up the stella work you do, we love consuming it.

1st time viewer, and as a non scientist I found this episode fascinating, I loved the bite size segments, it really kept me watching. Looking forward to checking out your past and future videos :)

Thanks for the great video Dianna, currently it's my favourite YT video. I've watched it five times with different people, none of them have been disappointed. I love your fascination with everything, I'm like that too but I'm not in a position to ask experts so I can learn more. I'm very thankful that you make videos about things you've learnt to help the rest of us learn. :-)

love to this again, strength for the long road you both

during the 1899 yukon goldrush there were countless tunnels in permafrost made by miners and large ones also, even horses were kept in tunnels as temperatures outside in winter dropped to 60 below 0 or more. they encountered many prehistoric animal bones and even some with muscle/meat on them preserved in the permafrost.there have been 5 significant ice ages in the northern hemisphere in the last 2 billion years or so and interglacial warming phases occur during these and they have melted all the permafrost many times to the arctic and have even turned the arctic into tropical forest. and then refreeze into a glacial maximum where up to 5000+ ft of ice sat on a good portion of north america ,europe,ect. and sea levels during a glacial maximum drop 120 meters or more only to rise back up during the interglacial warming phases like the one we are in now which will melt all the permafrost regardless of what humans do. geological science/earth sciences have studied this phenom extensively and have written many papers on this subject. that is quite the amazing tunnel they made ....a giant laboratory🦣

Thanks for this, Dianna! The deep permafrost just absolutely fascinates me and every time I hear of a video about it I stop what I'm doing and check it out. It's simultaneously one of the most interesting areas of scientific exploration and potentially one of the most impactful on our future world, and yet we tend to hear so little about it even with the dramatic blowouts happening in the Russian tundra. Anyways, one can imagine how excited I was to see that you actually went there and covered it. Oh what I wouldn't do to get samples under a microscope, stinky foo foo or not. The very idea of actual living, ancient microbial life and an incredible array of dead but preserved life of all kinds spanning tens of thousands of years, just waiting there to be studied. That's the best science ever. 🙂

Very interesting and informative, thank you. ;)

Great job on this! I really like that you covered how they know what they know. request please: How do scientist know that the air trapped in core samples doesn't diffuse in and out and that the ice cores really are capturing bubbles of hundreds of millions of years old air? How was that verified?

I absolutely looooooove your videos you definitely keep me engaged with the education on all kinds of interesting subjects and addicting to watching you explain to us 😄

One of the most engaging videos I've seen in a while, great job with the information + storytelling!

Great video. Keep up the awesome work

Fascinating. Ty for sharing a superb video!

This was an awesome watch. Thank you.

I love your channel and always have/will, and I ESPECIALLY love the recent trend of "American Tom Scott." Youre going cool places and teaching us about wild stuff in our own backyards. Thank you so much for the content, team :3

i remember learning a few years ago in class about permafrost and how it will affect the world, and i know out of all the things i have learned, that melting permafrost is one of the more worrying issues we need to pay attention too. but i think its safe to say that we arent going to prevent it from melting though

That was an amazing feature. Usually, you only see what life was like when visiting museums but what you explored, was truly amazing. We only see exploration of Space but exploring within our own Planet comes many surprises. Thank you Dianna for venturing into sub temps to create this movie for us.

I learned more about permafrost in this video than I ever did in geography classes in school. Solid informative video like always.

Thank you for the content you bring and the easy to digest way it's delivered...love the channel

Thanks for this astonishing video!

This is a really interesting. Those ice wedges are amazing! What a awesome place to visit!

"None of the microbes are toxic." That's just what a person taken over by alien microbes would say! :)

I absolutely adore your excitement and enthusiasm to learning it's the most addictive thing to watch ❤️

I had no idea I would learn so much from this video thank you.

Super interesting video! I'd love if you could add metric units whenever you talk about depths though, because I still have no idea how much 2000 feet is! I believe Diana's choice of earring was the most distracting one so far though. What is that thing?!

Just discovered your channel. WOW. Great way you have of defining the research facts to average persons who don't understand the scientific terms and can take away a great learning experience. Great job. Going to view other videos you've made.

This was really fascinating! Thank you for doing what it took to bring us this video. I knew about permafrost in general, but not all these details.

thank u sooo much for your chanel, making Science thingies easily acceseble for someone like me with dyslexia and adhd , mucho love !!!!

Thank you very informative 😊

This was absolutely fascinating! Thank you for sharing, and it makes me curious how much deeper it could go into the past and into preservation of the planet.

Hey Physics Girl, love your videos, they are always super interesting and easy to watch. Need more of them !!

I was just looking for a frozen dirt video! thank you Dianna.

This was fascinating to watch, thank you.

This was an awesome episode! Thank you for always finding cool and important content to post. Science Rocks!!

This is very cool! I went to UAF and got to visit the perafrost tunnel once. We didn't go all that deep, and visited midwinter. It's so cool that we happened to accidentally begin the process of learning so much about permafrost.

Sending you positive energy, Dianna!

Great video, Dianna! Thank you!