Polar News and Notes Scientists in the field

On April 17, the RSV Aurora Australis docked in Hobart, Australia, with what the chief scientist aboard called “a remarkable data set of observations from the Southern Ocean, covering a wide range of physical, chemical and biological variables.”
A team of scientists had spent the past four weeks on the research and supply vessel measuring ocean […]

PolarTREC (Teachers & Researchers Exploring & Collaborating) has set up its Virtual Base Camp for the 2008 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. At the Base Camp web site, you and your students can follow the progress of the expeditions, ask questions of the scientists and the participating teacher, view photo alums, and access learning […]

In Februrary, we posted about a unique dogsled expedition that sought to document the impact of global warming in the Canadian Arctic. Led by renowed explorer Will Steger, the 1,400 mile trek includes five emerging leaders in the field. The team is sharing the experience through video, images, sounds, and text at the Global Warming […]

In the first weeks of April, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send DC-8, P-3 and B-200 aircraft over the skies of the Arctic carrying instruments to measure air pollution gases and aerosols and solar radiation. In these airborne laboratories, researchers will take a special interest in the formation of the springtime “arctic […]

In March, researchers from  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)  performed sea ice and underwater acoustic surveys in preparation for a return trip in March 2009  to make the first direct measurement of Pacific Ocean water flowing into the western Arctic in winter. This flow plays a role in maintaining the Arctic ice cap .The researchers […]

Three of the Web Seminars scheduled by the National Science Teachers Association in May will offer teachers at all grade levels an opportunity to enrich their teaching about the polar regions. Each seminar is presented at 6:30 p.m. on its scheduled date and lasts for 90 minutes. Participation is free.
Presenters for the two-part seminars on […]

Highlights from Thursday, March 27 at the National Science Teachers’ Association national conference in Boston, MA included a presentation on IPY science projects and the Polar Discovery expedition series.
IPY Science
Louise Huffman, Coordinator of Education and Outreach for the ANDRILL project, presented an informative session, IPY Cool Science: Hot Topics. An overview of the three […]

News from the polar regions in March 2008 included many “firsts:” flights of unmanned vehicles, research during Antarctica’s “polar night,” and new insight into the polar regions from boulders, sediment cores, and other reports. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
Last month, we reported on a fully robot astronomical observatory called PLATO. This month […]

Doing Antarctic research while watching and listening for volcanic rumblings seems farfetched, but it is reality for researchers from the United States, Spain, Britain, Argentina, and Chile stationed on Deception Island. The five countries work here under the Antarctic Treaty, which protects the area from over-use by humans. The treaty is no protection, however, from […]

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, […]