December 03, 2006

• The scientists have been isolated for way too long. The journalist is writing for the public, not for a bunch of scientists in Antarctica with their heads stuck up their asses.
• The Big Dead Place website is hilarious, though. Read the rest of the site.
• It seems that the reporter has backed off from his initial whingeing in his second article as result of getting an earful from readers and staff. Thanks for this- I'm fascinated by the Antarctic. For a really interesting account of visiting Antarctica, it's hard to beat composer Peter Maxwell Davies' diary of his visit there in 1997 to compose his Antarctic Symphony (no. 8). Of particular interest is his evocative description of the extraordinary soundscapes he encountered there.
• Holy crap, what a great post! Thanks meredithea!
• A British Antarctic blogger with lots of great photos and links to others.
• Great links in this thread! ))) ))) ))) to meredithea, kamus, and islander!!!
• 1) I read the article and the responses, and I thought that neither was particularly grumpy or mean spirited. That said, this guy's going to lose his job if he escalates. 2) That's not a scientist, that's a contractor, writing the snarky blog -- almost certainly. The contractors are often quite contemptuous of scientists (who they call "beakers") and even more so of tourists and similar, such as reporters. It's an interesting sociological problem. The razzing this MSNBC guy was getting was pretty minimal compared to stuff I've seen. I can't imagine a scientist taking the piss on a reporter that way -- shameless self-promoters, most of them, it's pathetic -- but I can imagine any number of contractors doing so. 3) Not really sure I care for your attitude, InsolentChimp. *chortle*
• Oh, and 4) Hate McMurdo. Hate the whole idea of it.
• Just curious Zorgon, you seem to have inside info- do you have some connection to the antarctic? And what is it you hate about the idea of McMurdo? Just curious.
• Yeah; been there, worked there. Not McMurdo. Other side. McMurdo's too big, it's a city -- with all the attendant problems of pollution and waste and whatnot. NSF has spent millions in recent years on cleaning up the site, including shipping out high-level radioactive waste from a fission reactor they used to run out there, *makes twirly finger motion beside ear* crashed aircraft, millions of empty (ish) oil drums, etc. I think it never should have happened to begin with. There should be no permanent installations in the Antarctic; it should be preserved as a wilderness, and like a wilderness be subjected only to limited, low impact human visits.
• Intrigued by Zorgon's description, I found this tour of McMurdo. Certainly not a pretty place. BTW, that reactor idea- WTF!?
• Was it a reactor, or was it a facility to extract heat from nuclear waste? Which seems kind of clever, to me.
• Reactor: http://www.qsl.net/kg0yh/nuke.htm IIRC it was a nuclear sub design -- very safe. Would have been better than the humongous amount of fossil fuels burned there since, but still, wtffage.
• 3) Not really sure I care for your attitude, InsolentChimp. *chortle* Yeah, I don't really care for my attitude either. Anyone else want this? $O.25, soul included. *GALUMPH*
• Antarctica Ho!
• how do you get a job in Antarctica? I don't see how you could bring your family...though that'd be weird.
• Great link, islander.
• Those shameless penguin hussies-well I never!
• Female birds that turn broody will frequently sit on anything hard that stimulates sensitive areas on their undersides - eggs, stones, turnips, etc it doesn't matter what. Right now I'm suspicious of what my African's up to with the raw beet roots she usually ignores. Unmated, she's already produced two eggs a couple of winters back.
• I've spent a chunk of today reading Big Dead Place which was linked off that snarky blog. It's really fascinating, a cynical view of life at McMurdo. Smedleyman, it talks about a few young couples, but definitely no kids. Lots of people leave their families behind for months at a time. Someone who has done both compares life at McMurdo to life on a compound in Iraq.
• Agrees with Zorgon with regard to keeping it as wilderness, but thinks research ought to be allowed by tidy scientists.
• Yeah the Big Dead Place website is fascinating and hilarious- I loved the multiple reviews of Carpenter's "The Thing" which was generally appreciated for showing how shitty working on an Antarctic Research Station can be. I put the book on my wish list and it now join the ever larger list of things I plan to get to when my kids finally go to school.
• Smedleyman, hier clicken, select "Employment." I know quite a few people who've done it. The typical employee is seasonal, they're down for the field season (say, October to April or so) and in the States the rest of the time. The permanent bases are McMurdo, South Pole, and Palmer Station on the Antactic Peninsula -- there are lots of places to work, as well as research vessels and in Raytheon's stateside facility. Blue Horse, I agree but beyond that I think research and tourism should be allowed, on a limited basis. As has been proven in the American West, if you take people there and show them, they're more likely to advocate preservation. If you close it up and say "NO ENTRY" they'll do all they can to break down the barriers, with negative results.
• Of course, the job can be hazardous.
• Quite true, Zorgon. Education about the environment and the need for wilderness makes a huge difference, too.
• So Zorgon, was working down where you were as miserable as BDP's author was at McMurdo?
• No, but I was a student and I was so excited to be there nothing -- not even the complete failure of my apparatus -- was gonna make me miserable ;)
• er, I believe they have effective drugs for that sort of thing nowadays. sorry, couldn't resist
• I've worked in the Antarctic and I have to say that the US Antarctic Program is an impressive undertaking - scientists and support staff deployed to three permanent stations, numerous field camps and two research vessels working to understand the Antarctic and its role in global systems. They do this, despite shrinking funding, thanks to many very dedicated, hard working people. As for BDP, it is well-written and entertaining, but it dwells on the negative and tends to ignore the absolute wonders of the Antarctic and the work being done there.
• As a result of this thread I am now reading the book Big Dead Place and I must say it's an enjoyable read. The book is a bit disorganized and severely lacking in a sustained narrative flow but it is often very funny and the whole thing has something of the Heller-esque absurdity of Catch 22.
• Antarctica's nudist club
• The picture accompanying that article is ossum. "There is also a strong culture of what happens on the ice stays on the ice" Heh.
• Yeah. Did that with my tongue once.