China's 24th Antarctic Expedition

This expedition left November 12, 2007, on the country's Antarctic expedition from Shanghai. On board the red colored research vessel were 91 expedition members. More of the expedition members will arrive in Antarctica by air. To date this is China's largest expedition. One of the expeditions tasks is to decide on the exact placing of China's third base. They will also conduct research on topics such as ice algae, krill, and climate change. Learn more about the expected new base and this research expedition here.

Vitamin D Research in Antarctica

Vitamin D deficiency that has become an increasing problem as people use sunscreen to prevent skin cancer, however at the same time you end up getting less vitamin d from the sun that is necessary for healthy bones. I just read this article about a research study to determine if vitamin D supplements are effective treatment. It relates to Antarctica as the study is using people who are in Antarctica as the test subjects because with the 24 hour winter darkness it makes the best way to test if the supplements can make up for the lack of vitamin D from sunlight. The research is just starting with those that went down this October, so the results are still unknown. It does sound like something interesting to try to keep up-to-date on, as vitamin D deficiency is an increasing issue to be aware of and learn to avoid.

Metal Penguin Being Sold for Funding Antarctic Research

I thought this was a really cool idea when I saw it. This Emperor Penguin named Wilson is metal sculpture of about the same size of an actual Emperor Penguin. It is being sold online. The money will be an non-profit organization called Oceanites. The main mission of Oceanites is to monitor penguin and seabird populations in Antarctica. Part of their research involves determining the impacts of different threats and determining those threats to penguin populations. The Penguin sculpture even has wings that can move. You can see it in person at Visage located at 1046 NW Johnson in Portland, Oregon.

Inflatable Habitat

NASA has developed an Inflatable Habitat that will be heading to Antarctica. It will be shown to the media at 10am on November 14. The habitat will be used at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica from January 2008 through February 2009. While there it will be evaluated to see how it may be used for future space exploration on the moon and Mars. There was not much details on this, but maybe there will be more news on this next week after the news conference.

Installing Seismographs in Antarctica

I found this article about a Washington University team going into the unexplored to install seismographs. They will be placing them in both east and west Antarctica to help learn more about the land underneath the ice. Read more about this expedition in the informative article here.

Earthquake in Antarctica

Yesterday there was an earthquake in Antarctica that measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. Not really much else about it in this article besides it happened and it is not very common for earthquakes to hit Antarctica, especially strong ones like this.

Antarctic Dinosaurs

This article struck me as interesting for one because it is about searching for dinosaur fossils in Antarctica. It also interested me as it talks about a children's book that brings the topic to children who cannot visit the continent, which is similar to what I want to do with my Postcards from Antarctica children's book series I am trying to get a grant to do. It is certainly interesting to think about what other fossils remain undiscovered under the ice, as well as learn about how and what has already been discovered.

Update on Today Show Live From Antarctica

I finally found a part of the MSNBC website saying that the show will be live from around the world including Antarctica on November 5 and 6. Probably one of the better specials Today Show has ever done, so check it out if you can.

3 New Minerals Discovered in Antarctica

Well, the title of this article leads one to think that the minerals were just mined and discovered, but actually they were found on an expedition back in the 2003-2004 summer season. Samples collected from that trip have now been confirmed as containing small pieces of three different minerals previously unknown. Go to the article to learn more about the process of confirming minerals are in fact newly discovered.

Chile Continues to Reinforce Presence in Antarctica

As part of asserting their right to part of the water off of Antarctica that is also claimed by Britian, Chile is now planning an expedition to the South Pole. They will send a team of 20 scientists and military personnel to explore the remote areas around the South Pole. The main purpose is to study about the geographical surroundings of the area with a hope of learning about the natural resources here. Here is the news article about the expedition.