Antarctic scientists face breathalyzer tests due to alcohol-fueled fighting and ‘indecent exposure’

Breathalyzers could be used to curb alcohol abuse among scientists at US bases in Antarctica following “unpredictable behavior” caused by excess drinking, including fights and indecent exposure. Officials from the National Science Foundation told an audit of healthy and safety at the two US-run bases — McMurdo Station and the South Pole — that drinking has led to “unpredictable behavior […]

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Floating Laboratory Will Explore ‘Final Frontier’ of Polar Regions

A huge research ship costing £200 million has been commissioned, which will probe the oceans and climate of the arctic and Antarctic.   They are the cruel seas where Britain’s greatest adventurers made their names. Now the territory of Scott and Shackleton, will be surveyed by a new generation of British explorers who will tackle the ‘final frontier’ of Earth’s […]

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Antarctica Has Record-breaking Voyage

Antarctica Has Record-breaking Voyage

Back in March 2018 an extraordinary expedition took place.  The Oyster 72 Katharsis II sailed below the 62°S round Antarctica.  During the trip the weather didn’t help with all its fog and snow it made it very difficult to sail.  Icebergs made their appearance when least expected and looked as though they were disintegrating.  With the wind blowing at times […]

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You Can Get an Antarctica World Passport

Antarctica World Passport

You might not be a resident of Antarctica, but “no biggie”, say artists Lucy and George Orta. They’re giving out Antarctica passports, anyway. You can apply for an Antarctica passport online through the Antarctica World Passport program. In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty stipulated that the southernmost continent “shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become […]

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When spiders fall from the sky

In southern Australia, it’s raining spiders. Spiders can ride the wind using an ingenious migration technique known as ballooning. Residents of Goulburn, Australia, received a startling demonstration of the phenomenon last week, when hundreds of thousands of tiny spiders descended from the sky on gossamer parachutes. “The whole place was covered in these little black spiderlings, and when I looked […]

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How Sea Ice Forms

Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about minus 1.8 degrees Celsius (28.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Most Antarctic sea ice occurs annually, meaning it forms in the winter and melts during the summer. Sea ice regulates exchanges of heat, moisture and salinity in the polar oceans. It insulates the relatively warm […]

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