A lost world of previously unknown creatures has been found flourishing next to boiling vents of water, miles under the surface of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.

The discoveries, made by teams led by the University of Oxford and Southampton in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, include a new species of yeti crab, a forbidding pale octopus and a predatory seven-armed starfish.

The hydrothermal vents of the East Scotia Ridge are powered by underwater volcanoes, and produce springs of black, smoky water capable of reaching temperatures as high as 400C (752F). They are of interest to deep-sea biologists as they host animals found nowhere else that derive their energy not from sunlight but from the bacterial oxidation of chemicals in the vent fluids. These discoveries therefore help scientists to build a picture of what elements are actually required for life to exist.

The vents were discovered to be competing grounds for massive densities of crabs. Up to 600 of the crustaceans compete for each square metre of land, attempting to get as close as possible to the vents without accidentally cooking themselves in the scalding fissures.

The findings represent the latest in a string of discoveries of crab communities in the South Pacific since the first known yeti crab, the Kiwa hirsuta, was identified in 2005. However, the crabs were not only observed in much greater numbers in the East Scotia Ridge, but discovered to possess a unique physical trait. Whereas the hirsuta is characterised by the long, silky hairs that grow on its claws, thick clumps of hair cling to the undersides of the new species.

Nicolai Roterman, A DPhil student here at Oxford researching the genetic makeup of these creatures, was the mastermind behind a now infamous nickname for the new species. “I dubbed it the ‘Hoff Crab’ owing to its hairy chest”. He explains that the tufts “provide an ideal growing environment for bacteria which are then grazed upon by the crab – sort of using their own bodies as a farm”.

Roterman describes a gruelling work schedule on board the RSS James Cook, the team becoming accustomed to working 16-18 hour shifts over the course of the six weeks in order to make the most of an expensive opportunity. “Occasionally the volume of material found meant that some of us would be working for more than 30 hours straight before being relieved in order that everything was done correctly. This was imperative because you never know if the weather would suddenly deteriorate and potential science hours lost due to rough seas.” Resilience in testing conditions however proved worthwhile when breakthroughs were made – “I think all in all, we were delirious with excitement from the discoveries”.

During the expedition in January 2010, the team used a purpose-built, remotely operated vehicle called the Isis, boasting a HD video camera, a “slurp gun” for picking up delicate invertebrates and a sophisticated acoustic mapping system, to access the deep-sea vents. The ROV, about the size of a Land Rover, cost approximately £3 million to build and is capable of diving 6500m. Without the groundbreaking Isis, the team would not have been able to uncover and unearth some 12,000 samples of rocks, bacteria and other marine life.

The South Pacific is attractive to deep-sea biologists at the cutting-edge of research as it has been considered as an important gateway for the dispersal of vent animals between the other major oceans of the world over geological timescales. “We expected to find a mixture of animals probably reflecting such dispersal, certainly shrimp and possibly mussels and other animals”, says expedition leader and Professor of Conservation Biology Alex Rogers.However, the nature of the sea-life confronting the team surprised as much as it delighted. “We were fairly certain that the Southern Ocean was a major missing piece in our understanding of the distribution of vent species but we never expected something so new.” The Somerville Fellow adds, “what we didn’t find is almost as surprising as what we did. Many animals such as tubeworms, vent mussels, vent crabs, and vent shrimps, which are found in hydrothermal vents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, simply weren’t there.”

Prof. Rogers explains that the discoveries have significant implications in terms of an understanding of the marine life of the Indian Ocean, rewriting the story of vent biogeography. Just last month, more yeti crabs have been spotted by a research team following the lead of Rogers’ team, based at Southampton.

He hopes that the findings will encourage a new generation of marine biologists to involve themselves in deep-sea research. “With modern research vehicles the images we have are fantastic and really help to engender enthusiasm for the subject. For me, teaching students about the deep ocean is a pleasure. To reveal to anyone for the first time the wonders of the deep ocean and seeing their reactions is always great.”

A report detailing the research has been published in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

Geoffrey Hill, Oxford’s Professor of Poetry, has received a knighthood for services to literature in the New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Hill, who has been described as the “greatest living poet writing in the English language,’ has produced more than fifteen volumes of celebrated poetry, including the acclaimed King Log and Speech! Speech!, in a career spanning over fifty years. Hill has also written four volumes of influential literary criticism.

In June 2010, he became the 44th occupant of one of the most distinguished literary chairs in existence, Oxford’s Professor of Poetry, succeeding Christopher Ricks in a line of incumbents that includes Matthew Arnold, W. H. Auden, Robert Graves and Seamus Heaney. A record 2,500 votes were cast in the election, of which Hill secured the overwhelming majority – more than three times than that of his nearest rival, Michael Horovitz.

Dr. Peter McDonald, Christ Church Tutor, literary critic and editor of Geoffrey Hill: Essays on His Later Work, spoke to Cherwell of the importance of the honour, commenting, “Geoffrey Hill has been for a very long time now the best poet writing in English; in my view, he is also a poet of permanent importance, whose work certainly ranks alongside that of Yeats and Eliot in power, memorability, and originality. Three such poets in a hundred years are all any culture can reasonably expect.

“The knighthood is right and proper as an expression of national pride, though it must be added that the British poetry world has seldom been inclined to take any particular pride in Hill’s achievements: this reflects badly on that little world, but will be of no consequence in the longer term. Oxford’s securing Sir Geoffrey’s services as Professor of Poetry will I think come to be seen as a great triumph for our University.”

Dr Seamus Perry, Lecturer and Deputy Chair of Oxford’s English Faculty Board, also sang Hill’s praises. He said, “This is a wonderfully fitting tribute from the Crown to England’s greatest living poet. For more than half a century Hill’s works have meditated upon the history and politics of these islands with an unrivalled imaginative tenacity and a fiercely engaged moral intelligence that is wholly unique: this recognition is thoroughly deserved. I hope he gets the Nobel next.”

Dr. Daniel Tyler, English tutor at Lincoln, was “delighted” by the honour, telling Cherwell, “It is good news that such a fine poet has been recognised in this way. Although best known for his poetry, Geoffrey Hill is also a literary critic of the highest order – as all those of us who have enjoyed his stimulating lectures as Professor of Poetry can attest. In all his writing, he strives for precision of thought and expression rather than popular appeal, but if the award of this honour brings his writing to the considered attention of a larger body of readers, then it will have done a good thing.”

One English student at Corpus Christi acknowledged, “As a poet who is not only current but also connected into both the academic and composition sides of the art, Geoffrey Hill is a clear candidate to represent the profession.”

The New Year’s Honours List had a strong literary presence this year. Novelist and Oxford graduate Penelope Lively became a Dame, whilst Australian writer Clive James and author Rachel Billington were awarded CBEs. Diarmaid MacCulloch, Oxford’s Professor of the History of the Church, also received a knighthood in recognition of his services to scholarship.

Sir Geoffrey Hill is a fellow of Keble College, Oxford. His latest work, Clavics, is shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Poetry 2011. Since June 2007, he has completed five new collections of poems, scheduled for publication by Oxford University Press in 2013. In 2009 his Collected Critical Writings won the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism, the largest annual cash prize in English-language literary criticism.

This week the existence of a “Crew Date Flair Guide” was revealed. The guide details instructions that members of The Saints (the combined St Anne’s and St John’s rugby team) should follow in order to achieve crew dating success.

A copy of the document, originally written approximately five or six years ago, was distributed to first year students in October. It included details on the appropriate use of a “wingman”, the purpose of the “central Kill-Zone” and how to maximise chances of success through the use of a special seating plan.

One section of the guide, called “The Setup,” advises readers against a girl-boy seating plan but describes how “undesirables” should be “penned” into a corner and seated next to attached men. This allows the formation of a “central Kill-Zone” consisting of the “major social players and easiest women.” At the other end of the table, seating an attractive single female in a corner allows her to be “chatted up using the perfect “opposite and next to” wingman technique.”

After Jamal’s, readers are advised to check which women on their “shortlist” will be going clubbing. “You will only score once you get past the defence and into a one-on-one,” it tells its readers. If such a one-on-one is established, the guide advises other players to distract the girl’s “more sensible” friends. The wingman’s role at a club is thus to preserve any “one-on-one” opportunities that the team establish.

Some have taken the guide’s existence as a disappointing demonstration that for some crewdating is purely seen as a strategic opportunity to score, rather than it being an opportunity to meet other students of similar academic or extra-curricular interests. Katie Dean, of Mansfield College, commented, ‘This kind of sexist attitude is unexpected. It is sad to think that some students retain this misconceived view of how it is appropriate to treat female students.’

However others have instead labelled the guide as ‘lighthearted’. One rower, who wished to remain anonymous, told Cherwell, ‘Everyone knows what goes on with a crew date, those who don’t like it just don’t go.’ The only surprise they expressed was that someone had gone to the effort to make such a guide.

Diarmaid MacCulloch, Oxford’s Professor of the History of the Church, has received a knighthood in recognition of his services to scholarship.

Professor MacCulloch is widely regarded within the academic community as a leading scholar on issues within Reformation Theology. His publication, “Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490-1700” has been a necessary textbook for Church Historians since its publication in 2003. More recently the academic has become best known for his successful BBC series “A History of Christianity” and its accompanying book of the same name. This text won MacCulloch McGill University’s Cundill Prize, the largest history book prize in the world.

MacCulloch told the BBC that he was “extremely honoured, flattered and delighted,” that he had been chosen for such an honour. He emphasised that he saw the award as not just for him but in recognition of the immense importance of arts subjects, commenting, “They are the sanity of our society. Without them we wouldn’t have memory and we wouldn’t know how to look at the future properly.” MacCulloch emphasised this again in his comments to Cherwell, stating, “These are not easy times for any university and it’s good that the country gives what we do some credit.”

MacCulloch also described the process of receiving such an honour, “It was quick a shock when the quiet initial sounding out came, approximately a year ago. After that, all is silence until a brown envelope arrives from Downing Street requiring the answer yes or no, and the next you hear is when the press start ringing. The investiture, I guess, will be sometime this winter.” When asked if it had been difficult keeping the news to himself, MacCulloch replied, “As for secrecy, you get used to discretion in university politics.”

Fellow Church History tutor and lecturer the Revd Dr Andrew Teal told Cherwell that he was “thrilled” and that the knighthood was “great news.” He commented, “I’m delighted, not only for Professor MacCulloch, but for Theology in general, and Church History in particular. Diarmaid and I were both students at Ripon College, Cuddesdon together, and he was pretty obviously an enormously gifted historian with a genius for communicating clearly, originally and creatively.” He described MacCulloch’s work as “an adventurous commitment to understanding the development of doctrine and the Church.”

Teal went on, “His capacity to communicate has become increasingly evident through his block-busting book and brilliant BBC television series on the history of the Church. He has brought a nuanced, interesting and witty take on a vast variety of subjects, maintaining interesting trajectories without collapsing diversity or imposing anachronistic uniformity.”

The award came within the New Year’s Honours List, and was described by the Guardian as “something of a rebuke to the Church of England.” MacCulloch’s original intention was to be ordained into the church but he turned towards an academic career in reaction to the Church’s attitude towards gay people.

MacCulloch is a fellow of St Cross College.