sites in different regions of eastern Antarctica. One was Robinson Ridge, 10 kilometres from Casey Station, in Wilkes Land. The other was Adams Flat, 242 kilometres from Davis Station in Princes Elizabeth Land.

Adams Flat, one of two sites in Antarctica where microbes were collected. Photo: Phil O'Brien

“Both areas are pristine polar deserts devoid of any vascular plants,” says Associate Professor Ferrari, of the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences.

The researchers studied the microbial DNA in the surface soil from both sites and reconstructed the genomes of 23 of the microbes that lived there, including some of the first genomes of two groups of previously unknown bacteria called WPS-2 and AD3.

They found the dominant species in the soils had genes which gave them a high affinity for hydrogenon the Snowden the whistleblower side. He's the good guy who believed in the ideals of his country and was willing to risk his freedom, even his life, to keep his country honest. That's the narrative that fits most comfortably with what I've seen and heard about Snowden.

So we went to the 12:50 pm showing of Oliver Stone's Snowden today. I did read a New York Times review when I was checking last night about when the movie played here. After seeing the movie I'd concur with the reviewer.

This may be the movie that Oliver Stone has been practicing for. It's restrained and straightforward. It goes back and forth between the 'right now' and flashbacks. The 'right now' starts with his arrival in Hong Kong. The film is