Polar News and Notes Ezine Departments

The Arctic Ocean was once home to a 50-foot-long, dinosaur-era marine reptile. On February 26, Norwegian scientists reported that the fossil found on the archipelago of Svalbard is a new species and larger than the previous pliosaur record-holder found in Australia.
Paleontologist Joern Hurum said that a small car could fit in the reptile’s mouth, […]

Lance Mackey, a musher from Fairbanks, won his second straight Iditarod on Wednesday morning, crossing the finish line in Nome at 2:46 a.m. Mackey’s team ran the 1150 mile race in 9 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 48 seconds. The musher won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in 2007. He repeated the […]

When the USCGC Healy left Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on March 11, middle school science and technology teacher Craig Kasemodel began two weeks of research on late winter conditions in the Bering Sea. The Anchorage, Alaska, teacher will be working with Lee Cooper, chief scientist for several science cruises that will take place in 2008. The […]

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 is an International Polar Year Science Day, focusing on Changing Earth; Past, Present, and Future. It will focus on change over geological time, especially in terms of glaciers, ocean-atmosphere interactions, and climate variations. Celebrate the IPY Science Day by interacting with scientists conducting research in the Arctic and Antarctic. Live from IPY […]

Deep beneath Arctic ice and miles of sunless water lie what are may be the remotest places on earth: ranges of unexplored volcanic mountains more foreign than the surface of Mars. But recently, an international team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) set out to uncover the secrets of this Arctic sea floor. […]

We’re pleased to announce that our first issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine is ready to view! This online magazine is written for elementary teachers to help develop their content knowledge of the polar regions and use best practices in integrating science and literacy instruction. Our first issue is called “A Sense […]

News from the polar regions in February 2008 included an exciting new location for astronomical research, expeditions that will enhance our understanding of the Southern Ocean, and new findings that shed light on glacial melting and ice-shelf collapse in Greenland and Antarctica. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
A team of international scientists completed […]

 Photo courtesy of Travis S., subject to a Creative Commons license
Did you know that Saturday, March 1, marks the ceremonial start to the 36th Iditarod?
Known as the “Last Great Race,” the Iditarod is a race across the beautiful yet rough terrain of Alaska. Covering more than 1,150 miles, mushers and their dogs cross frozen rivers, […]

In March, a six-member team from the United States, Norway, Great Britain, and Canada will embark on a 1,400 mile dogsled expedition across Ellesmere Island. As the team traces the routes of legendary polar explorers such as Robert Peary, Matthew Hensen, Frederick Cook, and Otto Sverdrup, they will witness the changes that have occurred on […]

Being the coldest and driest place on earth, Dome Argus, Antarctica, doesn’t appeal to many people. Astronomers have been looking at it differently; they believe it may be the best site on the planet for ground-based astronomy.
The logistics of installing seven telescopes at the highest point of the Antarctic Plateau culminated in February when the […]