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Chasing Science in Antarctica Dispatches


Glaciers and the Simple Life in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys

TAYLOR VALLEY, DRY VALLEYS, ANTARCTICA-- In this interview from in front of the Canada Glacier in Antarctica’s Taylor Valley, Hassan Basagic from Portland State University describes the essential role of polar glaciers in supporting the bare-bones ecosystems in the Dry Valleys...



The Train from Pole to Troll

SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- At the South Pole, we met up with Ice Stories correspondent Zoe Courville just before she and her team embarked on their 3,000 km traverse across the desolate and frigid East Antarctic Ice Sheet. In this video, Zoe gives us a tour of the vehicles...



Mapping East Antarctica’s Uncharted Territory

WILLIAMS FIELD, NEAR MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- East Antarctica contains nearly all the world's supply of fresh water and could contribute hundreds of feet of sea level rise, yet little is known about the stability of this vast ice sheet...



Dry Valleys: Looking for Life on Mars

LAKE HOARE, DRY VALLEYS, ANTARCTICA– After spending time at the South Pole, flying to Cape Royds and Black Island, and otherwise keeping ourselves busy with webcasts and scientist interviews in McMurdo, Lisa and I hopped on a helicopter out to the Dry Valleys for a couple of days of hiking and camping in the coldest, driest desert on Earth...



Stars of the Ross Sea

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- In our webcast with John Weller recently, he showed some photos of a group of bat stars and close-up of the top of one of them. Bat stars are common sights on the bottom of Antarctic seas, clustering under holes and cracks in the ice where seals...



Glaciers from the Air

SOUTH POLE STATION, ANTARCTICA-- On our flight to the South Pole, the view out the tiny windows on the LC-130 are mostly of a flat,…



Diving by Proxy

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Last week, we shot footage of our colleague John Weller preparing to SCUBA dive under the ice. I felt a definite pang of regret that I wasn't joining him in the 28 degree water...



Waylaid On Our Way to Antarctica

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (EN ROUTE TO ANTARCTICA)-- The Exploratorium Ice Stories team of Mary Miller, Lisa Strong-Aufhauser and Ron Hipschman are cooling our jets in Christchurch, New Zealand, and itching to get to the ice. We’re treading the same ground as thousands of other Antarctic-bound souls...