Antarctic permafrost soils have not received as much geocryological and biological study as has been devoted to the ice sheet, though the permafrost is more stable and older and inhabited by more microbes. This makes these soils potentially more informative and a more significant microbial repository than ice sheets. Due to the stability of the subsurface physicochemical regime, Antarctic permafrost is not an extreme environment but a balanced natural one. Up to 10(4) viable cells/g, whose age presumably corresponds to the longevity of the permanently frozen state of the sediments, have been isolated from Antarctic permafrost. Along with the microbes, metabolic by-products are preserved. This presumed natural cryopreservation makes it possible to observe what may be the oldest microbial communities on Earth. Here, we describe the Antarctic permafrost habitat and biodiversity and provide a model for martian ecosystems.

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We report on efficient lasing of Pr-doped fluoride materials with cw output powers up to 600 mW in the visible spectral range. Praseodymium doped LiYF(4) and LiLuF(4) crystals were pumped either by an intracavity frequency doubled optically pumped semiconductor laser with output powers up to 1.6 W and nearly diffraction limited beam quality or by a multimode GaN-laser diode with an output power of about 370 mW. Furthermore, intracavity frequency doubling of the red Pr-laser radiation to 320 nm reaching output powers of more than 360 mW with a conversion efficiency of 61% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 22% are presented.

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