Antarctica

Beer Helps Ultra-Marathoner Run Around the World

Heineken beer bottle ©Creative Tools Irish ultra-marathon runner Richard Donovan has become the first man on the planet to run seven marathons on seven continents in less than five days–thanks to a bottle of beer. In just four days, 22 hours and three minutes, Donovan completed marathons at the Russian Novo science base in Antarctica, [...]

Rare Breed of Penguin Found on Antarctic Island

A leucistic Chinstrap penguin, Antarctica ©today.msnbc.com On Monday, a rare breed of penguin was discovered by a naturalist aboard the Lindblad Expeditions’ National Geographic Explorer ship. A leucistic Chinstrap penguin was spotted on Antarctica’s Aitcho Islands. This particular breed of penguin lacks the black and white coloring, which acts as camouflage when penguins fish. David [...]

Website Offers Globetrotters Virtual Passport Stamps

Passport Pages ©jonrawlinson In an era of open European borders and passports with digital chips the passport stamp is now almost the exception instead of the rule in international travel. Now, a new website and app called Visastamper is offering a virtual passport service to give travelers the souvenir stamps from all of the countries [...]

15 Ways to See the World by Water

The Maldives ©nattu If you limit your travels to only land-based excursions you will miss out on 75% of the wonders the the world has to offer. CNNgo has compiled a list of 15 fantastic water-based excursions. From penguin spotting in the pristine coves of Tierra del Fuego to following the trail of the pharaohs [...]

47 Scenes from Antarctica

Winter is coming back to Antarctica and, after a busy season for both scientists and tourists, most researchers stationed there have traveled north for the season. Among them were a Russian team that recently came within 30 meters of drilling into Lake Vostok — a subglacial lake some 4,000 meters below the surface of the [...]

Google Street View Now Available in Antarctica

© K. Hurley In its ever-expanding quest for world domination, Google has announced that their Street View technology is now available in Antarctica. The officially marks the seventh continent on which their mapping technology is available. Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering for Google Earth and Maps said: [W]e’re happy to announce that you can now [...]

Leopard Seal Discovers The Hard Way That Nature Photographers Lack Basic Survival Skills

Via Neatorama, a story and video being conveyed by National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen in the context of his new photography book. Nicklen was in the Antarctic doing some filming and got “adopted” by a 12-foot leopard seal, which tried to feed him and teach him how to hunt. Twelve feet is a little over [...]

Father and Teenage Son Reach South Pole Unsupported

South Pole Station, Antarctica © Image Editor An eighteen year old gap year student and his father are now believed to be the first father-son team to reach the South Pole. Matt Gaskell, eighteen, just might also be the youngest to do so. The team, composed of seven men, did not use modern conventional ways [...]

Photo of the Moment: Antarctic Kayaking

First Passenger Flight Touches Down in Antarctica

An Australia–Antarctica passenger jet made its first successful landing at the very first runway in Antarctica. Scientists at the Australian-Antarctica division have reason to cheer – the four and a half hour long flight will mean no more 5 week sea trips to reach the ice continent, at least during summer. The laser leveled runway [...]

Santa Gets Grabby in Antarctica

Evidently, it was a wild Christmas in Antarctica this past year. The more then 1000 scientists and staff who man the McMurdo base in Antarctica were first confronted with a groping Santa who was accused of “inappropriate touching”. Barely had that scandal died down when an American staff member driving under the influence was chased [...]

A Year on Ice: Life in Antarctica

YouTube user Anthony Powell (a.k.a. “Antzarctica“) has captured over 1,000,000 photos of Antarctica while living at McMurdo Station and Scott Base over the past five years. This video captures the dichotomy of the Antarctic summer and winter through stark, fascinating time-lapse photographic imagery. It’s striking how active it is down there – many more people [...]

Finding the Elusive Aurora Australis (“Southern Lights”)

Here in New England and across the upper reaches of North America, folks talk of seeing the Aurora Borealis or “Northern Lights”. This incredible light show is a result of electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Photo © Te Aara It’s truly a stroke of luck and good [...]