Dealing with Cancer in Antarctica

Some may remember this story of a women in Antarctica dealing with Breast Cancer back in 1999. Today I found a recent article about her speaking about her experience. It is really an interesting story about the doctor treating herself for breast cancer.

Skiing the Route Shackleton was to take to the South Pole

In a few weeks Doug Stoup will lead two men from a film company to
retrace the route Shackleton planned to take in 1914, but never did
because of the Endurance getting stuck in the ice. They will be taking
this over 600 mile journey on skiis pulling a 300 pound sled. The
journey is pretty much all uphill on uncharted terrain. You can read
more about this journey here.

Operation Deep Freeze

This U.S. Air Force operation is a mission that repeats every year
dating back to the first Operation Deep Freeze in 1955. Operation Deep
Freeze is the title for the U.S. Air Force helping the National Science
Foundation get researchers and supplies from New Zealand to McMurdo and
from McMurdo to other research posts. The Navy is also involved
operating a tanker and cargo ship. The Operation began October 2nd this
year and goes until the end of the main researching season in Antarctica
in March 2008. Here is the story this information comes from.

Tasmanian Ranger to Help in the Restoration of Scott's Hut

Found this article about the restoration of Scott's Hut that is being undertaken as a joint project with funding coming primarily from the British and New Zealand governments. This article focuses on a carpenter with past experience restoring Mawson's huts in Antarctica, as well as restoring huts in Tasmania's Cradle Mountain National Park. I found it interesting to learn about the unique difficulties that the harsh climate in Antarctica has sandblasted the wood while at the same time the coldness has preserved most of the contents of the hut to make it look just like Scott and his men just left.

Related Post: Tea to Help Preserve Scott's Hut

Subglacial Lake in Antarctica

Here is an interesting article about scientists who are going to explore a subglacial lake in Antartica called Lake Ellsworth, which is under several kilometers of ice. Part of their goals is to learn about what lives in this lake and how it may be related to what may find on the frozen moons of Jupiter. They will also map the depth of the lake and use a robot to collect sediment samples.

Role of Military Forces in Antarctica

Today I found this article about the support the New Zealand Defence and Air Forces provide in Antarctica for the Scott and McMurdo bases. It is nice to see articles about the peaceful things the military does such as restocking the bases and helping in search and rescue. This article does not mention MedEvac, but in some cases they also help with that as I wrote about the United States Air Force helping with that not that long ago.

Ozone Hole Over Antarctica Smaller than Normal

Last year the Ozone Hole over Antarctica was the largest measured, but
this year it has shrunk 30% from last year's measurement. This smaller
ozone hole is being attributed to "natural variations in temperature and
atmospheric dynamics" and thus is expected to be only a short term
shrinkage. You can read more about this shrinkage and how the ozone
hole is measured here.

South African Companies to Help Build British Antarctic Base

Several companies based in South Africa have been selected to help build the British Antarctic Survey's new research station called Halley VI. The station will be put on an ice shelf that floats. It will be built in 9 ton pieces in Cape Town and then put together on site in Antarctica. It is to be built to withstand temperatures as low as negative 50 degrees Celcius. The station will be towable across the ice making it possible to move it further inland when the ice sheet flows farther from the mainland. Here is the link to the article about the station and the South African involvement.

Aurora Australis United States Stamps Released Today

The United States Postal Service released a set of Polar Lights stamps today. The sheets of 20 feature stamps of both the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis). While the Northern Lights are somewhat common to see when it is dark in the Arctic region, the Southern Lights that can sometimes be seen in Antarctica are far more rare and thus truly a spectacular thing to witness. For those of us unable to actually see them in person these stamps are a great way to see the beauty of the Polar Lights. I will for one definitely be adding this sheet to my stamp collection and may just add a sheet to my stack of fun stamps for mailing things.

Role of Math in Predicting Effects of Climate Change

Math really can be important in a lot of science. The effects of climate change may not be seen as something that math is used for predicting, but it is as the predictions relate mostly to patterns. I found this article about a mathematician using a formula he developed to help predict the effect of climate change on sea ice in Antarctica. What is most interesting is how his formula can also be applied in other ways, including "how osteoporosis permeates can bone, which have a similar density and structure to sea ice."