Category: News
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Getting To The Heart Of The Keck Array Microwave Telescope: Cryostat Disassembly
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This week, I was fortunate to be given unprecedented access to the Keck Array Microwave Telescope in the MAPO Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station by the Keck Array Science Team, in order to witness the disassembly of two of the five cryostats that form the telscope array. Photos. The Keck array is a…
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Refilling the Liquid Helium of Bicep2
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A week or two ago, Physicist Jon Kaufman gave me a brief tour of the Bicep2 Microwave Telescope, operating here at the South Pole. Aa I reported earlier, the telescope operates at a very very low temperature – only a few millikelvin above absolute zero. In this particular telescope, to get down to that temperature,…
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The South Pole’s Campbell–Stokes Sunshine Recorder
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High up on the roof of the incredibly sophisticated Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, there exists an extremely low-tech piece of equipment: The Campbell-Stokes Sunshine Recorder. Photos. From Wikipedia: The Campbell–Stokes recorder (sometimes called a Stokes sphere) is a kind of sunshine recorder. It was invented by John Francis Campbell in 1853 and modified in 1879…
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Touring the Bicep2 Microwave Telescope with Physicist Jonathan Kaufman
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South Pole is home to many, many world-class science experiments, laboratories, and telescopes. One such telescope is the Bicep2 Microwave Telescope. On the ice this year working on the hardware and software is Physicist Jonathan Kaufman. Yesterday, Jon was nice enough to give me a quick tour of the telescope and lab, as well as…
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My First Sundog
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This past week, while I was hanging out with Utility Technician Charles “Chuckles” Letourneau, I saw my first Antarctic Sundog, or “Parhelion”. A quick description of this spectacularly beautiful atmospheric phenomenon from Wikipedia: Sundogs are made commonly of plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, by ice…
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Launching a Meteorological Balloon with South Pole Meteorologist Phillip Marzette
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The weather here at the South Pole is intense – one day it’s crazy storms, the next day it’s sunny and nice – and it’s always cold. Detailed weather observation and reporting happens daily here, and the man in charge of it all is Meterologist Phillip Marzette. The other day, Phil let me tag along…
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Taking Ozone Measurements at the South Pole Atmospheric Research Observatory
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Today, Atmospheric Scientist Kelliann Bliss shows us how she takes ozone readings at the South Pole Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO). A bit more on ARO, from NOAA: The Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO) at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is a National Science Foundation facility used in support of scientific research related to atmospheric phenomena. ARO…
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Playing With Liquid Helium At The South Pole Cryogenics Lab
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To support the various telescopes and experiments here at the south pole, a ton of resources are necessary – power, heating, environmental protection, and somewhat counterintuitively, cooling. Some of the telescopes here are so sensitive, and looking at such distant signals, that in order to work properly they need to be cryogenically cooled down to…
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Exploring the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory
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One of the amazing benefits of living here at the South Pole is that I get access to some of the world’s leading scientists, and the experiments they’re working on. In fact, the luxury of having meals and chatting with scientists, and then being able to go out to their experiments is by far one…
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Learning About Space Suit Design With Astronaut Joseph Tanner
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This past week, my brother Jason and I were fortunate enough to be allowed to sit in on a guest lecture at the University of Colorado Engineering Center by NASA Astronaut Joe Tanner. Joe spoke to us about the ins and outs of spacesuit design, and shared a bunch of his personal stories. A pic…
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Video: Hurricane Sandy – A View From Above
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The New York Times posted this incredible timelapse video of Hurricane Sandy’s roll through NYC. Incredible footage.. Watching the hurricane from the 51st floor of the New York Times building.
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Infographic: XKCD’s A History Of The United States Congress
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Great big infographic from favourite cartoonist Randal Munroe of XKCD. A look at american politics over the years..
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Google’s Influence on Photography – Street View and Beyond
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Following up on yesterday’s post on Google Street View in the Grand Canyon, here’s a great article from LightBox. It goes over the incredible impact of Google’s Street View experiement, and what it’s done for mapping and photography. From the article: In the catalogue to the show Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance, and the Camera since 1870,…
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Google Street View in the Grand Canyon: Google Trekker
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Introducing Google Trekker in the Grand Canyon – what a great use of Google’s street view tech: Today, demonstrating the rocky and rugged paths we’ll travel to make Google Maps even more complete, we’re collecting imagery from a place no car, trike or snowmobile has ever been before. On its first official outing, the Street…
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My New Favorite Shopping Site: The Wirecutter
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No researching, no clicking all over the web collecing opinions – just The Wirecutter. This is by far my favorite new tech review site, because it doesn’t give options. You want the best bluetooth speaker? Here you go. It’s this one, not any others. Job, done. The Wirecutter.
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Everything You Need to Know About Kitchen Knives
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Need a new kitchen knife? Here’s everything you need to know. I love these all inclusive guides, because they give me the tools to make a solid, informed decision. I try not to buy a lot of stuff, but when I do buy something, I like to know exactly what I’m getting, and make sure…
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The iPhone 5 Is the Best Smartphone | The Wirecutter
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Good blurb from Brian Lam at The Wirecutter on the logic of upgrading your phone when the current one is “fine”. It’s “The One Thing That’s Always Within Arms Reach”, and has such an increasingly large effect on our lives that it’s the one thing worth shelling out to keep upgraded. I’m in complete agreement.…
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Polar Infographic: Who Owns Antarctica?
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Great Antarctic infographic for today – who owns that giant continent, anyway? Courtesy of GOOD
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Apple reveals Lightning to microUSB adapter
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Finally, and as expected, Apple is out with it’s micro USB to Lightning adapter. This adapter is necessary to satisfy Europe’s demand for all smartphones to have a standard Micro USB connection, which I certainly support. Stateside, I think it’s also the go-to adapter to carry around – as the legacy 30-pin iPod cable begins…
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Infographic: The True Cost of Owning an iPhone 5
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Thanks to snazzily-named internet marketing firm Avalaunch for this handy infographic breaking down the ownership cost of an iPhone5… Avalaunch via Gizmodo
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Explainer Video: The Story of the First Ultra Modern Phone Cable Ship – AT&T Archives
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Great explainer video from AT&T, going over the first phone cable ship. Interesting!
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How To Generate Your Own Apple iOS 6 Passbook Passes
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With Apple’s iOS6 launching today, there are a ton of new features people are exploring. One of my favorite new apps on iOS 6 is Passbook. Although Apple didn’t incorporate NFC capability into the new iPhone 5, I really don’t think it matters too much just now – thanks to Passbook. Passbook lets users manage…
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Go To The Moon With The Apollo Astronauts in Documentary “For All Mankind”
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For All Mankind is a simply stunning documentary covering the Apollo missions to the Moon. Stunning on all fronts. Scored by Brian Eno. Enough said. This movie documents the Apollo missions perhaps the most definitively of any movie under two hours. Al Reinert watched all the footage shot during the missions–over 6,000,000 feet of it,…