Once Solid Peninsula in Antarctica Begins to Melt

Medicine & Technology May 24, 2015

A part of Antarctica that scientists once thought to be safe from climate change is now showing signs of instability, and the loss of this ice could lead to the rising sea levels around the world.

Satellite Data Reveal an Alarming Trend in Antarctica

May 23, 2015

Antarctica is a truly massive continent. At over 5 million square miles, the whole of the US could fit securely within its borders. It boasts the highest, driest, coldest, and windiest landscape of all seven continents. And the fact that it is losing ice is nothing new. It's the rate at which parts of the continent are melting that is raising new concerns.

Antarctic Ice Shelf on Verge of Disintegration, NASA Says

May 15, 2015

The last intact section of one of Antarctica’s giant ice shelves is weakening fast and will likely disintegrate in the next few years, contributing to a further rise in sea levels, NASA said in a new study.

Life Underneath Antarctica May One Day Reveal Life On Colder Planets

Apr 28, 2015

Though it may be hard to imagine life abounding in the frigid tundra that is Earth’s Antarctica, that doesn’t mean that life cannot exist there. Recent studies looking into the develop and sustainability of life in the frozen wasteland has developed promising results in showing that life may too exist on other exoplanets or exomoons further out in space that may share a similarly cold surface. But in a new study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, researchers with the University of Tennessee Knoxville have discovered a series of underground lakes that could harbor life—pointing ever-more towards the possibility of life far off from what humans can withstand.

Antarctica's Ice Shelves Melting Faster Than Originally Thought

Mar 27, 2015

Times are tough for the massive ice sheets of Antarctica these days with the latest report that the giant floating ice shelves that form a fringe along the continent's coast are beginning to melt and deteriorate much faster than scientists once believed.

Genes Show Where Penguins Called Home During the Ice Age

Mar 03, 2015

Surviving an Ice Age may sound like an easy task for a penguin. However, a new study of how climate change has affected emperor penguins over the last 30,000 years found that only three different populations of penguins survived during the last ice age, and the Ross Sea in Antarctica was likely the refuge for one of the populations.

Life in The Cold—How Penguins Deal Without Sweet & Savory Sensations

Feb 17, 2015

What could be worse than living on a frozen tundra, you ask? Experiencing the world in only two tastes has got to be pretty rough. And when you’re noshing down on fish day in and day out, only being able to taste things that are salty or sour has got to be a bummer too. But sadly, this is the life of the penguin.

Scientists Discover Life 2,500 Feet Below Antarctic Ice

Jan 25, 2015

In a surprising twist, scientists drilling through 2,500 feet or 740 meters of ice in Antarctica have stumbled upon a colony of fish, crustaceans and jellyfish inhabiting the cold and dark recesses of the barren Antarctic sea floor.

Seals May Use Earth’s Magnetic Field to Navigate

Dec 31, 2014

While past research has described the specie in great detail, a new study has found that Antarctic seals may be using the Earth's magnetic field as a natural GPS while hunting.

Dwindling Ice in Antarctica Spurs Questions Over Climate Change and The Point of No Return

Dec 06, 2014

As impending threats of “climate change” and “ecological disaster” have loomed over international affairs this year, to the point that even the United Nations spearheaded a campaign and led a summit to discuss future changes that may amend for some of humanity’s grave mistakes, new research published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters looks to a place much colder than our metropolises for evidence of a rapidly shifting climate.

Why Researchers Have to Go In Disguise—The Penguin in the Room

Nov 04, 2014

Looking for a way to observe king penguin colonies in the ice fields of Antarctica, researchers led by Yvon Le Maho from the University of Strasbourg, France developed a fluffy little rover shaped in the image of a penguin chick so that they could get an up-close view of the male penguins’ nesting behaviors.

The Story Behind 100-Year-Old Journal Found In Antarctica

Oct 27, 2014

In Antarctica, much of life and history is swept away or covered completely by ice and snow. Even in the face of unending change, the surface appears timeless and constant, even though it sets the stage for some of the most tragic stories south of the equator.

In Snow and Ice—Researchers Reveal Century Old Journal in Antarctica

Oct 27, 2014

The Antarctic ice is host to very little life, yet often researchers find that beneath the frozen surface we find remnants and a record of our past. Core ice samples not only reveal atmospheric concentrations of particular molecules in ancient skies, giving us a view of how the Earth’s climate has changed over eons even before the arrival of man, but also sometimes reveals a view of our own history on the icy sheet. This week, after more than a century since it was written and lost in a tragic expedition, the preserved journal of explorer George Murray Levick was found by researchers who recovered the photographic treasure from a casing made entirely of ice.