The Endurance is probably still in very good condition on the ocean floor
Ref; BBC News - Antarctic: Where 'zombies' thrive and shipwrecks are preserved
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Ernest Shackleton's famous ship, the Endurance, which he had to abandon in 1915 on his ill-fated Antarctic expedition, is probably still in very good condition on the ocean floor.
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Happy Birthday Captain Robert Falcon Scott
Happy birthday to Captain Robert Falcon Scott who was born on this day (6 June) in 1868 - here he is skiing in October 1911. (Reference: P2005/5/563)
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Scott (at the head of the table) celebrates his 43rd birthday at camp on 6 June 1911.
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Power and heat outage on British Antarctica Halley Station
Ref; Antarctica Station Housing 13 People Loses Power in Dead of Winter
Antarctica Station Housing 13 People Loses Power in Dead of Winter.
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Antarctica is currently in the depth of its long winter season, with temperatures plunging to nearly minus-67 degrees Fahrenheit, hurricane-force winds and lack of sunlight. This is precisely the wrong time of year for an Antarctic outpost to lose electrical and heating power, but that worrisome scenario playing out at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Halley Station on the edge of the south Atlantic Ocean, where 13 people are currently stationed.
IMAGE: SAM BURRELL, BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyM...ewheadshot.jpg Written by Andrew Freedman.
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BAS spokewoman Linda Capper told Mashable that all 13 station staff — including a chef, a doctor, mechanics, an electrician and several electronics engineers — are "safe and in good health." -------
"The power is up and the heating is back on, but it's not back to full capacity at the moment, so we've stopped all our science monitoring and data transfer apart from meteorological work to give us weather forecasts," Capper said. She described the lengthy power outage as a "very tense period for everyone."
“It’s looking good, but it’s still quite early days,” Capper said.
The outage started on July 30, when "a major technical issue resulted in the station losing its electrical and heating supply for 19 hours," according to a BAS statement.
Workers are preparing to move to other modules of the research station if the power goes out again, according to Twitter reports from those currently living at the station. "Contingency plans for alternative accommodation on site are in place and ancillary buildings are being made ready in case of a further power-down," said BAS officials in a statement.
The BAS waited seven days to make a press announcement about the mechanical problems because there was only one satellite phone available to talk to the crew, and it took time for staff to reach out to family members to let them know their relatives were OK, Capper said.
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Tractor Girl is on her way to Antarctica
Ref;Antarctica2
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This is the first chapter in an unfolding modern-day adventure story which will see the realisation of a dream for the lead driver, Manon Ossevoort, and an extreme test of endurance for the tractor and the entire crew. Depending on conditions, the expedition is scheduled to depart Novo Runway in the latter part of November and reach the Geographical South Pole sometime around mid-December.
In a 5000 km return journey across the unforgiving icescape, Antarctica2 follows the achievement of Sir Edmund Hillary, who drove a specially-adapted Ferguson TE20 tractor to the South Pole in 1958.
This second Antarctic tractor expedition is being organised to highlight the need for the provision of accessible technologies and innovative services to allow future farmers to meet the world's growing requirement for food.