Tag: antarctica
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Discussing life in Antarctica on REN TV Russia’s “The Riddles of Humanity”
This week, I appeared on REN TV Russia’s adventure show “The Riddles of Humanity”, Episode 255 to discuss life at the South Pole, Antarctica. Skip to minute 12 of the clip for my segment. My part of the segment covers (Google Translated from Russian: “Why is Antarctica called white Mars? How do people survive in…
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South Pole Rescue Mission Reported on NBC’s Today Show
There’s a rescue mission happening at the South Pole, Antarctica – and the NBC Today Show interviewed me for their report. https://youtu.be/B_9FiOoJk9o Learn more on my time in Antarctica (On my YouTube Channel – Will be replaced with official Today Show YouTube Channel link when they get around to uploading it themselves)
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Frozen Money: The Economics of Antarctica
Science and Operations in Antarctica has been a keen interest of mine for many years. During the Austral Summers of 2012-13, 2014-15, I worked at a number of locations in Antarctica. In this paper, I take a closer look into the sources of funding for American operations in Antarctica, as well as explore a number…
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Speaking at Ignite Chanukah 2016 – “The Frozen Chosen: Jews in Antarctica”
This week, I had the opportunity to speak at the Boulder JCC’s Ignite Chanukah Event. I gave a 5-minute Ignite talk entitled “The Frozen Chosen : Jews in Antarctica”. The talk, and rest of the event went great, with about 100 people attending, and food/drinks aplenty. Thanks to Michael and the Boulder JCC staff for…
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Discussing Antarctica with Third-Graders
This past week in NYC, I had a great time speaking to my cousin’s 3rd grade class about life and work in Antarctica. As much as I like speaking with adult groups about the ice, I can truly say that kids absolutely ask the best questions. This class came prepared with lots of q’s about…
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Talk: The Making of an Antarctic Science Expedition with Jeffrey Donenfeld
Thanks to everybody who made it to my talk “The Making of an Antarctic Science Expedition” this week at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder, Colorado! We had a great time discussing Antarctic expeditions, science, and life! Thanks to Miho Catering for providing delicious Japanese food, Sanitas Brewing Co. for providing refreshing beer, Voltaic Systems for sponsoring…
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IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica Confirms Existence of Cosmic Neutrinos
In the news today, the existence of cosmic neutrinos was confirmed by Antarctic scientists. I had the opportunity to work at the South Pole Station during the operation of the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory, and feel lucky to have become friends with PI Albrecht Karle and his team. A few articles about Ice Cube and…
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I’ll Be Speaking at Neptune Mountaineering about Antarctica on August 27th 2015
Upcoming on August 27th, 2015 at 20:00 MDT, I’ll be giving a talk at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder, Colorado, USA titled “The Making of an Antarctic Science Expedition”. I’ll be covering the details of putting together an Antarctic Science Expedition, including pre-departure preparations, personal gear and packing considerations, specialized Antarctic expedition equipment, logistics, and teamwork.…
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Living and Working at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Field Camp, Antarctica – Summer 2014-2015
After a very successful 2014-15 summer season working at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, we’ve wrapped up our operations and redeployed. Here’s a quick summary of the season: This year in Antarctica, I worked at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core Field Camp for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC)…
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Disassembling the Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) Drill at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
This year in Antarctica, I worked at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core Field Camp for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) Ice Drill Design and Operations (IDDO) Group as a Field and Drill Specialist. I was on a team of four, with our primary mission being to…
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Keeping Warm in Western Antarctica with Darn Tough
Darn Tough was a great partner to have while on my recent expedition to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp. I wore Darn Tough socks every day under my extreme cold weather boots, and was comfy and warm the entire time. Full report soon. Thanks DT!
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Tour The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, Antarctica
This season working at WAIS Divide Field Camp, Antarctica was busy, with days of hard work and rough weather. However, there were a few moments of free time and good weather, and during those moments I shot a few short clips. In this 40-minute video, I take you on a personal tour of most of…
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Exploring the World’s Most Powerful Icebreaker – The Jet Engine-Powered US Coast Guard Cutter “Polar Star”
After an excellent season working at WAIS Divide, my team and I returned to McMurdo to wrap up a bit of administrative items, finalizing this season’s shipping, and pack everything up for redeployment to New Zealand. Luckily, during those few days at McMurdo the US Coast Guard Cutter “Polar Star” came into port, cutting the…
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Ship Operations at the World’s Southernmost Seaport
McMurdo Station, Antarctic survives on the food, supplies, and fuel brought in via the air and sea. By far the most cargo comes in every year by sea, and McMurdo’s Seaport is the southernmost in the world. The port operates with an Ice Pier, and handles a variety of ships. Here’s a few timelapse videos…
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Launching the WAIS AERIAL CAMP PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY INSTRUMENT (WACPSI)
During a down moment at WAIS, I built and aereal vehicle for my GoPro, with the hopes of getting aerial video of field camp. The WAIS Aerial Camp Photographic Survey Instrument (WACPSI) was made out of foam. Some of its design features: Lightweight, protective, and insulating foam body. Integrated aero-wedge frontal shock-absorbing nosecone. Vertical stabilizer with…
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Making a Crater in Antarctica
In order to dispose of a few pounds of PETN explosives at WAIS Divide Field Camp, the decision was made to simple blow them up under the snow. The alternative was to go through the certification process for transporting by air back to McMurdo, which would have been a bit overkill, given the small amount…
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Disassembling the WAIS DISC Ice Drill – Timelapse Video
This season at WAIS, we did a lot of work in disassembling and packaging the DISC Drill. As work proceeded, I setup my GoPro camera to record a frame every 30 seconds. Here’s the compressed timelapse of our full season of work at WAIS. For more videos of the drill’s operation, check out my employer…
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Communication and Control at WAIS Divide, Antarctica
At the WAIS Divide Field Camp, communications and overall administration of the camp happens in the comms tent. A few photos:
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The WAIS Snow Pit
WAIS Divide sits on top of the antarctic ice sheet. Every season, a new layer of snow is deposited on the surface, which eventually gets added to the many, many layers of snow. Erin Pettit and her teammates this year dug a snow pit, showing the various layers of snow over the last few seasons.
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WAIS Divide’s Recreation Tent – Warmth and Comfort on the Polar Ice
Living and working at WAIS Divide Field Camp is rough – long hours of work, harsh environment, and living in a frozen tent for weeks, sometimes months on end. To get a bit of a break from the grind, an extremely important feature of camp is the Rec Tent. This tent is one of the…
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The WAIS Galley Tent – Community and Food
At WAIS Divide Field Camp, almost all of the buildings are various kinds of tents and compact structures. The galley is made out of the combination of a RAC Tent, and the “Galley Module”, a hard-sided module attached to one end of the tent. The galley is not only used for food, but also as…
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DISC Drill Arch, Condition 2
Here’s the exterior view of the DISC Drill Arch, where I’ll be working for the next few weeks. On the first day of work, camp was hit with a massive Condition 2 Storm. The drill arch was originally on the surface of the ice, but during the 7 or so years it’s been there, snowdrifts…
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Entering Tent City, WAIS Divide, Antarctica
After a successful landing at field camp and quick briefing in the galley, first order of business was to get our tents and gear setup. In this picture, I’m sitting in our gear sled as we snowmobile to “Tent City”, on the edge of camp. Everybody has their own tent, and it’s a blend of…