One on-going experiment I'm going to try in Antarctica is testing my blood oxygen level at various altitudes. I'm using a fingertip pulse oximeter to measure the amount of oxygen in my blood.
Fingertip Pulse Oximeter
Your blood moves oxygen around to different parts of your body to keep you alive. If the oxygen level in your blood gets too low it's called hypoxia or Acute Mountain Sickness. Symptoms of hypoxia can range from shortness of breath, headaches, and fatigue to seizures, comas or death. This is the altitude sickness that climbers on Everst are fearful of. The way to treat it is to reduce altitude and/or increase oxygen intake.
The South Pole is at an altitude of 9,306 ft (2,385 m). In contrast, Mount Everest is at 29,028 ft (8,848 m.) So I'm not going to be as high up as Everest, but I will have plenty of altitude to deal with. I expect to see my blood oxygen levels decrease but I'm curious about whether they re-adjust with prolonged altitude exposure. The fingertip monitor will allow me to keep track of my levels and then you all maybe will help me understand what happens over time.