NASA scientists working in the Arctic Ocean have discovered blooms of microscopic plantlike organisms living beneath the ice.

In the ICESCAPE (Impacts of Climate on EcoSystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment) project, researchers explored and sampled the area below the ice on the Chukchi Sea continental shelf north of Siberia. In their press release, the scientists called the discovery, “as unexpected as finding a rainforest in the middle of a desert.”

The finding revealed a new consequence of the Arctic’s warming climate and provided an important clue to understanding the impacts of a changing climate and environment on the Arctic Ocean and its ecology, NASA said in a statement. 

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Millions more Indians travel by foot, bicycle and bus than travel by car, but you’d never guess it from the design of India’s cities or the allocation of government funds.

A handful of interesting organizations are fighting for the rights of zero emitters, however. The Center for Science and Environment magazine Down To Earth reports that a number of groups, ranging from rickshaw pullers in the Punjab to bicycle crazy yuppies in Haryana are working to influence policy makers and change the way India thinks about urban infrastructure.

• Ecocab’s Dial-a-rickshaw service in Fazilka, Punjab, for instance, is revamping the “outdated” bicycle rickshaw as a cutting-edge, modern form of transportation by focusing on its naturally eco-friendly qualities.
• The Manipur Cycling Club, in the northeastern state of Manipur, is manufacturing bicycles from bamboo to simultaneously create a source of employment and encourage eco-friendly transportation.
• The Namma Cycle movement initiated by Ride-A-Cycle Foundation has made free-to-share bicycles available around educational institutes and recreational sites in Bangalore.
• And Rickshaw Bank offers a microfinance-type scheme combined with a cheaper, lighter rickshaw designed at the Indian Institute of Technology (Guwahati), in Assam, to free rickshaw pullers from endless rental payments to the cartel of rickshaw owners.