Ice Stories
Exploratorium Home

Archive for April, 2010


Foxes on the Edge

DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- Arctic fox seem to make their living by following bears around and scavenging. We have seen foxes trailing behind bears as they travel, and their tracks often wind around bear prints... {Read More »}



Some Time to Think

DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- One of the reasons the polar bear diet is interesting is that it is fairly simple in comparison to the closely-related brown bear (grizzly bear). Polar bears mainly eat seals, and this is reflected in their dentition... {Read More »}



Back in the Air

KAKTOVIK, ALASKA-- The captures have been going well. We caught the largest bear I have seen, an adult male who weighed 1,147 lbs. His neck was several times the size of my waist, and I could not fit both hands around his snout... {Read More »}



Aerosols in the Atmosphere

SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- Several weeks ago, I explained how solar radiation is the main driver of the Earth's climate. When solar radiation passes through the atmosphere and makes its way towards Earth, it can get absorbed, reflected, refracted, or scattered. One of those substances in the atmosphere that can either absorb or scatter solar radiation are aerosols... {Read More »}



From the Andes to the Arctic

LARAMIE, WYOMING-- It may seem odd to jump from polar bears in the Arctic to grazing animals high in the Andes mountains, but animals face similar challenges in both places... {Read More »}