Antarctica’s native insect, the Antarctic Midge is a flightless insect that can survive nine months frozen at temps of at least negative 15 degrees Celsius. It loses about 70% of its body fluids and can live for about a month without oxygen. The midge survives because of its combination of rapid cold hardening and warm temperatures in its underground habitat. […]
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A large Antarctic glacier cavity two-thirds the size of Manhattan has been discovered. Scientists have discovered a huge cavity at the bottom of a disintegrating glacier in Antarctica, creating concerns that the ice sheet is melting much more rapidly than expected. The researchers found the cavity using Italian and German satellites and ice-penetrating radar from Nasa’s Operation IceBridge, which uses […]
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Crested and rockhopper penguins are threatened by climate change – but this time the penguins could be at risk because they cannot change their own ways. Evolution has left them with a rigid parenting strategy, probably well adapted for climate conditions so far. But as temperatures rise, conditions change and food supplies become precarious, the inflexible roles of male and female […]
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European researchers have once again warned that the thinning of the Antarctic ice shelf means that the flow of glaciers on the frozen continent could accelerate, with a consequent rise in sea levels. They examine, in two separate studies, the increasingly precarious state of some of the ice shelf. When the shelf, consisting of ice floating on the ocean, melts, […]
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The fossil of a sea creature that lived around the earth approximately 70 million years was found around Antarctica. The remains were located about 1966 but were not able to be removed from the rock until now. Researchers uncovered the remains of what they are calling an Elasmosaurus or the real-life Loch Ness Monster. When it was alive it could […]
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As a new generation of writers confronts global warming, a new book genre has emerged: “climate fiction”, or “cli-fi”. Russell: “In my secret heart, I hope that all these books that are now talking about climate change will help to move public opinion.” That’s Canadian novelist Craig Russell. In his recent book, Fragment, a shockwave sends a massive Antarctic ice […]
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Nature films and science documentaries usually portray Antarctica to be nothing but the most cold, isolated, almost anti-social continent on earth — at least if you’re not a penguin — but life at McMurdo Station disproves that. The 2011-2012 Antarctic southern summer season is now alive and kicking (after numerous delays), and “Mac Town” (as the residents of McMurdo call […]
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Climatologists have started to drill into the oldest ice core in Antarctica to find some air that may have been there around 1 million to 900,000 years ago. The teams are from Australia, China, and Europe in a friendly type competition to find samples of air that is about 1.5 million years old. They would like to find out what […]
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Today we wanted to share a little-known bit of information for any artists or writers who ever dreamed of living in the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic. Each year since 2013, the National Science Program delves into it’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program searching through applicants who want to do just that. On average, only a handful people will get […]
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Antarctica’s Subterranean Ecosystem is quite interesting. In Antarctica researchers have found an undersea ecosystem under an iceberg that broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula. They say that Antarctica’s Subterranean Ecosystem has been hidden for over 120 thousand years. As the iceberg moves it will reveal about 2240 square miles of seafloor that has been hidden from light. The scientists will […]
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