In a recent email from my students, I was asked how I manage to make movies out here in the middle of nowhere. It made me think that I should explain more about our technology here!
We have computers- quite a few of them, in fact. We each have a personal computer (which I use for movie-making and journal writing), and we also have a field computer, which is a heavy duty thing that we use with the drop camera out on the ice. Additionally, we have a wide variety of other tools, like GoPro cameras with lasers attached and microelectrodes for measuring small variations in pH.
Our solar installation outside the Polarhaven tent on the lake.
Most of these devices run on electricity, and sometimes that creates a bottleneck. Most of our electricity runs on solar power, with a backup generator that runs on gas. When its sunny, there's no problem staying charged up. However, it's been overcast for nearly the entire week and its been hard to keep things charged. All of the electrical devices quickly get listed on a hierarchy according to what we need the most. The freezer keeping our samples cold is top priority. Then the field computer and cameras take next priority, followed by laptops that are used for data storage and processing.
I work around this schedule and use electricity as available to write journals and make imovies, which works fine. One other challenge I have is to actually deliver the journals to you. I have the ability to send very limited texts via email, which is how you are getting some of these, but it's very slow and unreliable. Furthermore, it requires a lot of power, so I can't do that when its overcast.
Journaling in the Polarhaven lab tent.
Airmail
Airmail
More often, I load the files onto a flashdrive, create an envelope out of duct tape and an old mac n cheese box (no manila envelopes here!), and send it on a helicopter back to McMurdo Station. This process has been quite successful, thanks to the helo staff, the Crary Lab IT staff, and the folks at PolarTREC!
Our airmail delivery service.