Antarctica

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'We Have Made Polar History': The Endurance Is Found

Incredibly well-preserved shipwreck discovered some 10K feet down in Weddell Sea

(Newser) - Ernest Shackleton wrote that his ship the Endurance sank in "the worst portion of the worst sea" in 1915. Now, more than a century later, its wreckage has been found some four miles from where the ship's captain believed it went down. "We have made polar history...

Search Is On for the 'Most Unreachable Wreck'

Team heads to Weddell Sea to find Ernest Shackleton's 'Endurance'

(Newser) - Ernest Shackleton set off for Antarctica in 1914, hoping to be the first person to cross the frozen continent . He didn't even get to try. In early 1915, his ship Endurance became stuck in pack ice in the Weddell Sea, about 100 miles from Vahsel Bay, before sinking to...

Massive Icefish Colony Stuns Scientists
'How Come No One
Has Ever Seen This Before?'
new study
Jan 14, 2022 8:57 AM CST

'How Come No One Has Ever Seen This Before?'

Scientists were amazed by 60M icefish nests found in Antarctic

(Newser) - Before a research expedition to Antarctica's Weddell Sea last year, the biggest icefish colony scientists had ever seen contained around 60 nests. They were amazed to discover an icefish metropolis with an estimated 60 million active nests spread out over an area bigger than Seattle. Around three-quarters of the...

Antarctica Research Station Hit by COVID Outbreak

At least 16 workers at Belgian station are infected

(Newser) - One of the most isolated places on the planet has been hit by a coronavirus outbreak—but all the cases detected at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station in Antarctica have been mild and workers at the Belgian station are planning to stay put. At least 16 out of the 25...

Antarctic Penguin Swims 1.8K Miles to New Zealand

And after some rest and a fish smoothie, 'Pingu' was returned to the water

(Newser) - Harry Singh thought he'd discovered a child's toy on a beach on New Zealand's South Island. Then it moved its head. What he'd actually found was a tired Adélie penguin, which had the BBC reports apparently traveled some 1,800 miles from its home on...

Even for Antarctica, It Was a Cold Winter

Experts say it doesn't change the forecast for global warming

(Newser) - Bucking the global trend, Antarctica just recorded its coldest six months on record. "For the polar darkness period, from April through September, the average temperature was -60.9 degrees Celsius (-77.6 degrees Fahrenheit)," the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported. During that period, the sun sets...

One Continent Hasn't Had Any COVID Vaccines. Until Now

AstraZeneca doses delivered to 2 dozen staffers at UK's Rothera Research Station in Antarctica

(Newser) - For all of the Southern Hemisphere's winter season, nearly two dozen staffers have been huddled together at the UK's Rothera Research Station in Antarctica, managing to avoid the coronavirus that continues to make its rounds through the rest of the world. This week, a delivery was made to...

Say Hello to Earth&#39;s 5th Ocean
Earth Has a Fifth Ocean
in case you missed it
Jun 12, 2021 6:30 AM CDT

Earth Has a Fifth Ocean

'National Geographic' recognizes the Southern Ocean, officially

(Newser) - To mark World Oceans Day on Tuesday, National Geographic officially recognized the Southern Ocean as the planet's fifth ocean, CBS News reports. Sometimes called the Antarctic Ocean or the Austral Ocean, the Southern Ocean is the body of water that surrounds Antarctica. All five of Earth's oceans—the...

Behold, the World's (New) Biggest Iceberg

Newly calved A-76 is in the Antarctic

(Newser) - A giant chunk of ice has broken off from an ice shelf in the Antarctic, so gigantic that it now qualifies as the world's biggest iceberg, according to the European Space Agency . The berg named A-76 "calved" from the Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea. It's...

Scientist Make Unexpected Find Deep Under Antarctic Ice
Scientists Make Unexpected
Find Deep Under Antarctic Ice
in case you missed it
Feb 21, 2021 12:00 PM CST

Scientists Make Unexpected Find Deep Under Antarctic Ice

'They’re definitely living in a place where we wouldn’t expect them to be living'

(Newser) - Researchers working in Antarctica have made an unexpected discovery: colonies of stationary animals—likely sponges and related creatures—attached to a boulder deep beneath the ice, NBC reports. Geologists boring through the 3,000-foot-thick ice of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf to take sediment samples from the ocean floor ran into...

Found: His Wallet From Antarctica Half a Century Ago

Former Navy forecaster Paul Grisham gets a surprise in the mail

(Newser) - Paul Grisham lost his wallet so long ago, in 1968, that he couldn't actually remember losing it, let alone remember what was in it. Luckily, he's been reunited with the brown leather billfold—and a recipe for homemade Kahlua—after it turned up in Antarctica. Grisham, a 91-year-old...

Scientists Slam 'Flag-Waving' Antarctica Airport Project

It could start a destructive 'construction race'

(Newser) - Australia is planning to build a new airport in Antarctica—but scientists say a project that would involve displacing penguin colonies and using more than 115,000 tons of concrete sets a very bad precedent. Environmental scientists say the project at the Davis research station would add an estimated 40%...

Virus Reaches Antarctica, Completing Its Sweep

36 people at Chilean research station test positive

(Newser) - The last coronavirus-free continent has reported its first cases. There have now been 36 infections in Antarctica, all tied to a Chilean research base. The cases were uncovered after symptoms began emerging at Base General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme; 26 Chilean army members and 10 maintenance workers tested positive. They...

Giant Iceberg on Collision Course With Island

Antarctica's South Georgia isle is hoping for a course correction soon

(Newser) - An Antarctic island could soon meet an enormous and unwelcome visitor. An iceberg about the size of Delaware looks to be heading for British Overseas Territory of South Georgia. The iceberg known as A-68A separated from the Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017. It's lost a couple of...

First US Flight Since May Lands in Antarctica

It's the only continent still virus-free

(Newser) - The first US flight into Antarctica following months of winter darkness arrived Monday with crews taking extra precautions to keep out the coronavirus. Antarctica is the only continent without the virus, and there is a global effort to make sure incoming scientists and workers don’t bring it with them....

Penguins&#39; First Home: Not Antarctica
Penguins' First Home
Isn't What We Thought
NEW STUDY
Aug 18, 2020 10:55 AM CDT

Penguins' First Home Isn't What We Thought

Researchers trace origin to Australia, New Zealand, not Antarctica, some 22M years ago

(Newser) - Penguins have had quite the journey, from Australia some 22 million years ago to modern-day Antarctica, according to a new study. With help from institutions around the world, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed blood and tissue samples from 18 species of penguins, finding that the animals originated...

Emperor Penguin Poop Reveals Hidden Colonies

On the downside, all are in fragile areas

(Newser) - Good news following a massive breeding failure of emperor penguins: There are 20% more colonies in Antarctica than previously known. They were discovered thanks to patches of penguin poop so large they could be seen from space. The red-brown guano left behind on ice, captured in high-resolution images from a...

Antarctica&#39;s Green Snow Mapped From Space
Antarctica Is
Seeing Green Snow
May 20, 2020 6:55 PM CDT

Antarctica Is Seeing Green Snow

Algae is thriving as the continent heats up

(Newser) - Antarctica is getting slushier and the snow is getting greener, according to scientists using satellite data to map blooms of algae. The BBC reports that a study of the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands found about 1,700 large algae blooms covering a total of nearly 1 square mile—though...

In Antarctica, 'We Are Isolated Within Isolation'

Researchers are trying to keep continent virus-free

(Newser) - Antarctica is the only continent without confirmed coronavirus cases—and the hundreds of people spending the winter at research stations there want to keep it that way. Some 29 countries have a total of around 80 bases in Antarctica, but all intra-base visits have been called off amid fears the...

Frogs Hopped Around Ancient Antarctica
A Supercontinent Split.
The Frogs Ended Up Here
NEW STUDY
May 6, 2020 10:00 AM CDT

A Supercontinent Split. The Frogs Ended Up Here

Fossils in Antarctica are evidence of the breakup of Gondwana

(Newser) - "Frogs, nowadays, are known on all six other continents. Now we know they were also present on the seventh." That's according to Swedish scientist Thomas Mors, whose discovery of 40-million-year-old ancient horned frog fossils in Antarctica suggests frogs were transported around the globe by the breakup of...

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