antarctica
sa smith | January 11, 2011Before were allowed to do ANYTHING on Antarctica, we had a lecture on what we could and could not do while we were visiting. Even though everyone was ecologically conscientious, there were tons of things we had to do that none of us would have thought of on our own. We had to vacuum our jackets/pants/hats/bags/etc, so we wouldnt accidentally introduce an invasive plant or other organism. We had to decon our boots before and after every outing, so we wouldnt contaminate an island then spread that contamination everywhere.
Even something like filling in the holes in the snow, if you step off…
sa smith | January 6, 2011A Midwesterner on the Drake Passage, some of the most notoriously rough waters on the planet. Yeah. I was pretty much planning on barfing all the way there and all the way back, only daring to hope that I would have a few days of non-barfing while we were at Antarctica. So I slapped on a patch and downed a few different kinds of anti-nausea meds, and I actually did okay for most of the trip! For real guys, I had the video camera ready to blog about my barfing, but it just never happened.
But it almost did.
Okay, so one day we were cruising around an area we affectionately nicknamed the '…
sa smith | January 2, 2011Hi guys!
I am officially back from Antarctica.
I do not want to be.
I didnt want to leave.
Normally I am very much an 'Oklahoma' girl-- mountains are pretty, but they make me claustrophobic. Oceans do too. I like plains. Horizon going to forever in every direction.
But I never got sick of the mountains in Antarctica. And I miss the ocean. I miss being on the water.
I cried on the way home.
Not hard, but every time a plane took off and I was a little further away, I would tear up.
But it was like visiting Narnia. You cant stay. You can probably never go back. And it wouldnt be the same…
sa smith | December 28, 2010
The outfit I ordered for Antarctica was supposed to replicate Vinces 'Human Coke Can' perfectly, but apparently to Columbia, 'cherry'=hot pink. 'Cherry' is RED, Columbia, not PINK. 'Strawberry' is PINK.
So now Im more like a human fanta can.
STRAWBERRY fanta.
sa smith | December 25, 2010Mom to Friends: Abbie is going to Antarctica!
Friends: OMFG! When???
Mom: The end of December!
Friends: **GASP!** SHELL BE GONE OVER CHRISTMAS!!
Mom: *blink*
We dont really do Christmas in my house. I mean, we would put up a tree when us kids were little, and we would get some gifts, but thats it. It wasnt even really ever a 'Santa' thing, cause Bro told me about the 'Santa' gig when I was really little (he didnt want his little sister to get scammed). That, and the whole 'Moms Jewish' thing.
Soooo I never went to church, and never sang in a choir. Didnt sing the really religious…
sa smith | December 23, 2010Yes, Antarctica is known for its penguins and seals and whales and such.
But I know thats just sunny PR BS from the fascist Antarctic government.
You bet your ass Im going to be on the lookout for the Cookie Monsters:
sa smith | December 21, 2010When I first found out I was going to Antarctica, I was super excited because I was a MAJOR ASTRONOMY NERD when I was little, and Ive never been to the Southern Hemisphere before, so I was like "OMFG THERE ARE SO MANY STARS IVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE WARBLEGARBLE!!!"
But there was something wrong.
There was something I was forgetting... tugging at my subconscious...
...
WINTER SOLSTICE! **SHAKES FIST ANGRILY AT THE SKY!!**
Except its the Southern Hemisphere, so, SUMMER SOLSTICE!! **SHAKES FIST ANGRILY AT THE SKY!!**
24 hours of sunlight means no stars! DAMMIT.
But, still, this is gonna be…
sa smith | December 20, 2010You know why all those fancy 'scientists' cant find the Yetis? Cause those Abominable Snowmen arent hanging out in the clubs in NYC or LA or Tibet. I bet theyre hanging out here in Antarctica.
But dont you worry about me. Im a shaman. My minds like a fortress.
sa smith | December 19, 2010Ushuaia!
This place is ridiculously beautiful too:
Not a double-rainbow:
10:30 at night, really cloudy, and it was still light out.
This was not so much fun when it was light out at 4 am. Me: "OMG THE SUN IS COMING UP I DIDNT WANT TO SLEEP TOO LATE!!!... wait... wait a minute... somethings not right...... :-/"
I also found 'my' puppy down here. Pup has the perfect place scoped out. Not only is it a bakery, its a bakery thats open on Sunday! (a lot of the shops are closed today) And he kept getting in trouble for trying to scoot his little butt into the bakery whenever customers came in…
sa smith | December 16, 2010Buenos Aires!
1-- I have no idea what anyone is saying. The last time I took Spanish was like 10 years ago. So even if people say something I know, it takes me 5 minutes to translate. And then, I have this 'ear popping issue' when I fly on planes. Fine going up, severe pain coming down, ears dont pop until like a week later. Not exaggerating. So people are speaking to me in Spanish, and I cant really hear them, and I cant really understand them, so I basically just stare at people like a dazed cow, only occasionally shrieking 'DONDE ESTA EL BANO???" with a thick Southern accent.
2-- The…
sa smith | December 14, 2010Goin to Antarctica to scope out future Karnak locations.
Might stay to oversee construction. *shrug* Actually, if I can figure out a way to get high-speed internet, I might just hang out down there for a while. Have some peace and quiet... 'alone time'...
Nothing to do with the blogging contest earlier this year, but you can go vote for Wes Elsberry again if you want! This time its for the Arctic!
Anyway, Im currently home in MO, dropping off Arnie to stay with my parents while Im gone. "Wont Arnie miss youuuuu???" people wonder. Short answer: No. LOL! Daisy is SO HAPPY!!!
Whats funny…
stoat | August 23, 2010Yes, the review you've all been waiting for. Before I start, let me point out that this has been discussed by WE at WUWT, who has pointed out the obvious problem. It has also been mentioned by KK, though that appears to be more of a meta-discussion about the paper's reception rather than the paper itself.
[Note: follow-up here.]
To quote KK:
But back to the show. One commenter at WUWT, noting the negative reaction to Judith, gives her a backhanded compliment when he writes: I have to applaud Judith Curry on having the guts to present her paper in the boxing ring of climate blogs where the…
eklemetti | July 29, 2010Lots of little pieces of news I've run across ... time to play a little catch up.
Stromboli: A volcano after Don Ho's heart.
Every once in a while, my RSS feeds will dredge up some articles from years gone by ... and this week there were two New York Times pieces that are a few years old, but interesting nevertheless. The first is about research conducted by Dr. Robert Sohn at WHOI on explosive undersea eruptions. The second is work by Corr and Vaughan about finding subglacial volcanism in Antarctica. Both are interesting reads if you missed them (like I did) the first time around.…
jstemwedel | July 2, 2010Last week, I noted that the Free-Ride offspring are off kicking it with The Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment, and that, to ensure that you would not have to endure a Friday without a Sprog Blog, I gave each of the sprogs a book to read during their visit with their grandparents and asked them to report back on their books via email. At the conclusion of the elder Free-Ride offspring's book report, emailed to me last Thursday night, I wrote:
Major props to the elder offspring for doing blog-homework without any prodding. This sets the bar pretty high for the younger offspring next…
edyong | January 14, 2010
I've just flown from London to North Carolina, a trip of around 6,200km. As flights go, it's a pathetic one, a mere jaunt in the park compared to the epic voyage of the Arctic tern. Every year, this greatest of animal travellers makes a 70,000 km round-trip, in a relentless, globe-trotting pursuit of daylight. In summer, it spends its time in the sun-soaked Arctic and in winter, it heads for the equally bright climes of Antarctica. In its 30 years of life, this champion aeronaut flies more than 2.4 million kilometres - the equivalent of three return journeys to the Moon.
The Arctic tern'…
stoat | December 1, 2009 So says the Beeb. And they have a cute picture of whales next to icebergs to prove it. It would be natural to think this was occaisioned by That East Antarctic mass loss, in full (i.e. the new GRACE results) but apparently not, it is just a coincidence: Sea levels are likely to rise by about 1.4m (4ft 6in) globally by 2100 as polar ice melts, according to a major review of climate change in Antarctica. Conducted by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), it says that warming seas are accelerating melting in the west of the continent. . Before I continue onwards let me quote…
kthompson | November 12, 2009A clip from Werner Herzog's Encounters At The End Of The Earth:
Here's what they look like:
Richard warms up:
grrlscientist | September 30, 2009
Emperor penguin pair in courtship ritual with chick, Aptenodytes forsteri.
Dawson-Lambton glacier, Weddell Sea, Antarctica (November)
Image: BBC [larger view]
Unless you've been living under a rock for awhile, you are well aware that the Official Antarctica Blogger contest ended nearly 12 hours ago today. What is more, you probably know that I ended up in third place with 2218 votes. I am quite disappointed with how I did and feel that I've let you all down. But regardless of how I feel about myself, there is one thing I don't doubt for one minute: you all were magnificent. Many many…
grrlscientist | September 30, 2009tags: nature, birds, Antarctica, emperor penguins, Aptenodytes forsteri, David Attenborough, streaming video
This is a chance to see amazing images from deep inside the frozen inland areas of Antarctica. The BBC natural history masterpiece, Planet Earth, documents the gruelling and heroic winter life of male Emperor Penguins, Aptenodytes forsteri, that breed in almost impossibly cold temperatures. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough.
grrlscientist | September 29, 2009
Video created by The Sneer Review.
Since I have recently developed quite a history of visiting cold and snowy places, often during the winter (remember Morris, Minnesota in January? Or how about Helsinki, Finland in November, then again in February?), I wish to preserve that tradition. I am competing for the opportunity to go to Antarctica in February 2010 -- a dream adventure that I've always wanted to pursue (and almost did pursue when I was an undergraduate researching Fin Whales and Crabeater Seals at the University of Washington). To enter, all candidates must publish a picture of…