“It’s really hard to prove that internal ice crystals are actually bad for the fishes. “The evolution of antifreeze proteins comes with a tradeoff, where you now have to figure out what to do with the ice crystals once they get into the body.” Conversely, it could be that the crystals aren’t that dangerous after all.
“There’s no free lunch in evolution,” Cziko says. It could be that the spleen is somehow filtering the imprisoned crystals somehow, but no one really knows. Scientists who study notoes once thought slightly warmer water temperatures in the summer allowed the crystals to melt, but Cziko and his colleagues measured temperatures around Antarctica for more than a decade and found the summers don't get warm enough to help any. But these fishes live for up to 30 years without obvious ill effects, so somehow they’re dealing with the accumulation of crystals. That irreversibility means that over time the crystals build up inside the fish, and having lots of foreign objects in your blood is usually something best avoided. “It’s not that brave,” he says, “in part because the water is amazingly clear.” So at least there's that. Studying these critters is evolutionary biologist Paul Cziko of the University of Oregon, who happily drills through Antarctic sea ice and jumps into the water. Some of these fish have even done away with oxygen-carrying red blood cells altogether, adopting thin, crystal-clear blood that doesn’t get as viscous as the temperatures drop. And one group of fishes, the notothenioids, swims in those frigid waters nearly carefree, thanks to very special blood loaded with antifreeze. But down in Antarctica, there’s a polar-opposite ( yeesh) ecosystem of brutally low temperatures, damn near 28.4 degrees F-the freezing point of seawater. They're about as close to hell as you can get on Earth.
The Australian edition of The Week ceased operation in October 2012. Since November 2015 The Week has published a children's edition, The Week Junior, a current affairs magazine aimed at 8 to 14 year olds. In the year 2021, The Week celebrated its 20 year anniversary of its first publication in the United States. Dennis Publishing, founded by Felix Dennis, publishes the UK edition and, until 2012, published the Australian edition. In April 2001, the magazine began publishing an American edition and an Australian edition followed in October 2008. The Week was founded in the United Kingdom by Jolyon Connell (formerly of the Sunday Telegraph) in 1995. A children's edition, The Week Junior, has been published in the UK since 2015, and the US since 2020. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. The Week is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. New York City, New York ( United States edition) United Kingdom, United States, Australia (formerly) Cover of an issue from December 2010 ( United States edition)