MetaFilter posts tagged with southpole

Artifact of Early Antarctic Aviation Found

filthy light thief — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:32:53 -0800

Early in the days of exploration of Antarctica, Australian geologist Douglas Mawson turned down an invitation to join Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition in 1910 (Cool Antarctica previously). Instead, Mawson lead his own expedition, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (December 1911 to December 1913), an expedition to chart the 2000-mile coastline directly south of Australia, one of the least-visited parts of the continent throughout the early years of Antarctic exploration. The group's efforts and activities are well documented, and many remnants of the expedition remain on Antarctica. The conservation of Mawson's Huts is now an ongoing effort from Association of Australasian Palaeontologists (AAP) Mawson's Huts Foundation. While most efforts were focused on the recovery and treatment of artifacts inside the main hut, the group also searched for the Vickers (Aviation) monoplane that was modified to become an "air tractor", or motorized sledge. The remains of the plane were last seen in 1975. Now the plane has been found, thanks to an exceptionally low tide and a bit of luck. According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

It was found by a heritage carpenter, Mark Farrell of Hobart, who was looking for a suitable landing spot for a cruise ship to bring visitors to the historic huts at the site in January, he said.

Though the Mawson's Huts Foundation Latest News page doesn't include reference to the find, it does provide more details about the known history of the plane, as well as earlier finds. Bonus bits: * Photos of the original expedition, courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales (mentioned previously) * Mawson's Huts Conservation Programme Part 1 and Part 2

Expeditions to the Polar Regions

netbros — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:01:49 -0800

The Polar Discovery team has documented science in action from pole to pole during the historic 2007-2009 International Polar Year, and covered five scientific expeditions. The science projects explored a range of topics from climate change and glaciers, to Earth’s geology, biology, ocean chemistry, circulation, and technology at the icy ends of the earth. Through photo essays and other multimedia, they explain how scientists collected data and what they discovered about the rapidly changing polar regions. From the awesome folks at WHOI.

Kadath in the Cold Waste

Artw — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:13:02 -0800

Landsat Image Mosaic Of Antarctica UK and US researchers peice together the most detailed map of Antarctica yet, searching through years of data to find cloud free images.

Big Science, Cold Science, Blog Science

geos — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 20:35:26 -0800

Welcome to the South Pole Telescope blog.

What time zone is the South Pole?

BuddhaInABucket — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 20:09:09 -0800

Ever wonder how time zones work at the North and South Poles? (No, not this North Pole, the real one.)

Santa Lives on the South Pole....of Mars?

Ufez Jones — Tue, 17 Dec 2002 07:50:23 -0800

Santa found living on the South Pole....of Mars!?! Mysterious tracks that look like 250-mile long ski or sled trails have been found near the South Pole of Mars. Researchers at the University of Colorado have found the broad, sweeping lines cutting through a section of the southern ice caps of the frigid planet, but haven't a clue what caused them. via the excellent laputan logic

KirkJobSluder — Fri, 22 Mar 2002 12:35:41 -0800

This week marks the 90th anniversary of the death of Robert Falcon Scott and four companions on their return trip from the South Pole. Most of the blame for the failure of the polar expedition has been placed on critical blunders Scott made in his trek to the pole but Antarctic meterologist Susan Sontag says that although Scott cut his safety margins too close, unusually cold weather provided the killing blow. On a related subject, next month A&E premires a movie starring Kenneth Branagh as Shackleton (flash site) who saved his crew after their ship shattered in Antartic pack ice.