621220 external_news 1556807230 1556807356 Before astrobiologists can figure out whether the icy oceans on other worlds, such as Jupiter’s moon Europa, harbor life, they need to better understand life under the ice of our own oceans and thus need instruments that can detect signs of life while operating in extremely cold, watery conditions. The ocean under the Antarctic ice shelf is the most analogous environment to Europa here on Earth. At the ACS national meeting, Nicholas Speller of the Georgia Institute of Technology reported on the portable microfluidic cell counter he and his colleague Michael Cato built for deployment on Icefin, a vehicle designed for exploration underneath the Antarctic ice. Speller and Cato are researchers working with Amanda Stockton, in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

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