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Getting to McMurdo is pretty hard. I told you about the C-130 that I flew in on. The C-130 is well suited for this because it is the largest transport plane that can be equipped with skis. Although the larger C-17 sometimes does run flights at different points in the season. McMurdo sometimes is

When Neutrinos Interact IceCube is looking for neutrinos. But, as mentioned in my previous journal, neutrinos are nearly invisible. I think of them as the ninjas of the sub-atomic world. **So how do you

Yesterday we sampled the P3 Experiment and today I wanted to explain more about it. The P3 is a large manipulative experiment to simulate a permafrost melting event. The experiment is set up on a hillside above Many Glaciers Pond. ##P3 Experimental Design The experiment has three treatment blocks: a

So what is there to do at McMurdo? McMurdo is like a small town. But the community has to make a lot of their own entertainment because there is only limited access to television and internet. The entire bandwidth for the station is likely less than what your house has. My webcasts use up about 15%

Tiny Particles You may be familiar with the periodic table. All matter can be broken down into these basic elements. We used to think that matter couldn’t be broken down further…until we realized that an atom is really made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. We used to think

No Flights Today Sunday is an official day off for support staff in McMurdo. Helicopter operations stop on Sunday so we knew we wouldn't be flying today. We decided to hike to F6 camp and then walk to Many Glaciers Pond to sample the P3 experiment. Normally this would have been a helicopter ride

Yesterday, we got a tour of a historic site on Ross Island from Elaine Hood. Elaine is a sort of the outreach guru down at McMurdo and is one of my favorite people at the station. She gave us a tour and history lesson about the Discovery Hut. The Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott during

Weather Window This morning there was a two hour break in the weather. A helicopter was able to come into the valley and take one-half of our team back to the lab. Byron, Jeb, Matt, Andy and I stayed back at Lake Hoare. Tomorrow there won't be any flights because Sunday is a day off for the pilots

The Four Seasons You’ve heard me describe the 24-hours of sunlight here, but do you really understand why? Let’s dive into the science. It all has to do with why we have the four seasons here on earth. It is a popular misconception to think that it’s warmer in the summertime because the sun it