Friday, December 30, 2016 - 3:00pm
Last week, Christmas was celebrated in many parts of the world, and that includes the South Pole. They had a makeshift “cargo” tree, presents for the winterovers, a fancy dinner—complete with a printed menu and assorted European desserts, and a party in the gym.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016 - 11:00am
It might be cold, but it’s summer at the South Pole, and the sun was out in full force, captured in this image of the IceCube Lab (ICL) with a striking mass of clouds cutting a swath through the sky
Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - 3:30pm
The IceCube detector has been explained widely—in many different languages and in hundreds of locations around the world, and targeting diverse audiences online as well as in auditoriums, museums, and classrooms. But this is the first time that the IceCube Collaboration is making public every detail of the only cubic-kilometer neutrino detector to date, from a flasher board in the digital optical modules—aka DOMs—to the calibration processes that allow researchers to measure the properties of neutrinos, or to the IceCube Live website that IceCubers use to monitor what is going on in the detector. The publication, over 70 pages long, has just been submitted to the Journal of Instrumentation.
Friday, December 16, 2016 - 4:15pm
A busy week at the South Pole, but not too busy for fun and games. Last week they held a foosball tournament at the geographic pole. In fact, it apparently was the first international southernmost foosball tournament, period. And IceCube winterover Martin was one of the winners. Yay, team!
Tuesday, December 13, 2016 - 3:30pm
Not many people have the opportunity to go to the South Pole. Its remoteness and extreme climate make traveling there complicated, and access to the South Pole station and other research facilities at the Pole is restricted or limited at best.
Friday, December 2, 2016 - 1:30pm
Have we mentioned all the cables? Well, there are a lot of cables in the IceCube Lab, and sometimes they’re a bit in the way, as they appear to be in this image of winterover Martin trying to get at something in the computer rack that needs attention.
Monday, November 28, 2016 - 2:30pm
Ok, they’re gone, but you can see them one last time in this photo taken mere moments before they left. Who? IceCube’s outgoing winterovers, whose departures from the Pole had suffered some delays. The group photo includes IceCuber Ralf Auer, just arrived on the plane that was soon to take Christian and Mack away, along with current winterovers James and Martin.
Monday, November 21, 2016 - 2:15pm
Last week at the Pole was a week of no airplanes. Not only did that postpone the departure of current IceCube winterovers Mack and Christian (who was captured in this image expressing his feelings about the delay), but it prevented US Secretary of State John Kerry from making a scheduled visit to the South Pole.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - 4:00pm
Last week brought two new IceCube winterovers (James Casey and Martin Wolf) to the South Pole, fresh and ready for action. Outgoing winterovers (Christian Krueger and Mack van Rossem) were still at the Pole, available to provide some welcome training before they leave the ice (which can feel as though it may never happen, with only 3 of 12 planned flights making it last week due to one issue or another—such is life at the South Pole).
Thursday, November 3, 2016 - 11:00am
Come summer, station personnel eagerly await the first provisions of “freshies,” as they’re called at the Pole. Despite continuing delays last week, a couple more planes have come and gone, leaving a few new faces along with the fresh fruit and bringing the station population to over 50.