Buried under Antarctica's miles-thick ice sheet, more than a hundred lakes are dotted around the continent. Now, for the first time, scientists are connecting the dots.

A new study found that natural "plumbing" can form under the ice, linking under-ice lakes that are hundreds of miles apart. These channels may allow water to gush suddenly from one lake to another.

Although the surface of East Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth, a combination of effects keeps the subglacial lakes from freezing.

Cold as it is, the ice cover forms a sort of insulating blanket that traps heat radiated by the Earth. In addition, the ice that traps the water in place exerts enormous pressure, which has the effect of lowering