Inside Science
/
Article

Unexpected Discovery in Antarctica

JAN 05, 2022
A keen eye and a bit of luck help scientists find something deep in the ice
Inside Science Contributor
Unexpected Discovery in Antarctica

(Inside Science) -- The Antarctic is cold, windy, dry and roughly twice the size of Australia. The average annual temperature ranges from about 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 C) to minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 C). There are currently 70 permanent research stations scattered across the continent of Antarctica, giving researchers many opportunities for scientific discoveries. Huw Griffiths is a marine biogeographer who spotted something by pure luck when geologists who were drilling through ice about one-half mile thick hit a boulder and caught something unexpected on camera.

More Science News
/
Article
A combination of tunneling barrier mobility and transparency parameters produces the most accurate lifetime of polymers.
/
Article
Pairing a plasma actuator with the Coanda effect enables low-cost control of airflow in HVAC systems.
/
Article
Thin alumina coatings can create a barrier for tritium, reducing its permeation while fundamentally changing the permeation process.
/
Article
Metropolis–Hastings algorithms reduce data smearing and improve density distribution results.
/
Article
Classical approaches to verifying a subject’s position can be easily fooled. Quantum optics can help, but only if the systems are fast and have low loss.
/
Article
The sweeping federal financial assistance rule proposed by the Office of Management and Budget is on hold. The reprieve may be an opportunity for the rule to fizzle.
/
Article
His 1988 sketch of how to use Antarctic ice to detect neutrinos led to the IceCube observatory, which made the first detections of high-energy neutrinos in 2013.
/
Article
After collecting experimental data from a replica of the renowned bell, researchers used a technique called modal analysis to model its acoustic properties.
/
Article
At the end of the turbulent 1960s, the postwar funding boom in US physics came to a crashing halt. The lessons learned then may be helpful to today’s physicists.